U.S. releases Tunisian national after 22 YEARS of being detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay

By arseniotoledo // 2025-01-04

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Fifty-nine-year-old Tunisian national Ridah bin Saleh Al Yazidi has been repatriated to his home country after 22 years of being held in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility without charge.
Captured in 2001 by Pakistani authorities near the border with Afghanistan, Al Yazidi was suspected of ties to al-Qaeda and became one of the first detainees in Guantanamo Bay after it was opened on Jan. 11, 2002. Despite suspicions of terrorism, he was never charged.
Al Yazidi is the fourth recent Guantanamo Bay detainee repatriated by the Biden administration, which has been working since 2021 to reduce the facility's population of detainees.
Twenty-six detainees remain in Guantanamo Bay. Fourteen have already been approved for transfer, three are eligible for periodic reviews of their detention status, seven are currently involved in military commission proceedings and two have already been convicted and sentenced.
Al Yazidi's transfer comes amid increased scrutiny over the continued operation of the Guantanamo Bay facility, which activists argue undermines U.S. principles of justice and commitment to human rights.

The United States has repatriated Ridah bin Saleh Al Yazidi, a 59-year-old Tunisian national who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since its opening in 2002, without ever being charged with a crime. The Department of Defense announced the transfer on Monday, Dec. 30, marking the fourth such repatriation in two weeks by the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden as it seeks to reduce Guantanamo Bay's population of detainees. Al Yazidi was one of the first detainees brought to Guantanamo Bay on Jan. 11, 2002, following the U.S.-led "war on terror" initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. According to Pentagon records, he was captured by Pakistani soldiers near the Afghanistan border in December 2001 and was suspected of being an al-Qaeda fighter. Despite these suspicions, the U.S. never formally charged him with any crime. The Pentagon stated that Al Yazidi was determined eligible for transfer through a "rigorous interagency review process." Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin notified Congress of the White House's intent to repatriate him early last year on Jan. 31, 2024. The transfer was completed following consultations with the Tunisian government. Al Yazidi had been cleared for transfer over a decade ago in 2009, but delays in securing repatriation agreements with Tunisia prolonged his detention by 15 years. Guantanamo Bay, located at a U.S. military base in Cuba, operates under a military commission system that does not guarantee the same legal rights as traditional U.S. courts. Detainees cleared for release often face extended stays as the U.S. negotiates with foreign governments to accept them. (Related: SHOW OF FORCE: U.S. attack submarine surfaces in Guantanamo Bay after Russian Navy task force visits Cuba.) At its peak, the facility held nearly 800 detainees, many of whom were initially held at cover "black sites" of the Central Intelligence Agency, where some were allegedly subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques," a euphemism for torture, authorized during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

Guantanamo Bay still home to 26 inmates

Following Al Yazidi's repatriation, only 26 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay, with 14 approved for transfer. Of the 12 other inmates, three are eligible for periodic reviews of their detention status, seven are involved in ongoing military commission proceedings and two have been convicted and sentenced. The Biden administration has made reducing the detention facility's population a priority, though progress has been slow. When Biden took office in 2021, 40 detainees were held at the facility. The Guantanamo Bay facility remains a contentious symbol of U.S. counterterrorism efforts, with critics arguing that its continued operation undermines the principles of justice and human rights. As the Biden administration works to reduce its population, the fate of the remaining detainees and the future of the facility itself remain uncertain. Watch this report from September 2022 discussing the release of an Afghan man after being detained in Guantanamo Bay without charges for 15 years. This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

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Guantanamo Bay still home to 26 inmates

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