The US Department of Defense announced on Monday that they’ve released a Saudi man who was detained in Guantanamo Bay for nearly 20 years for allegedly attempting to take part in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Mohammad Mani Ahmad al-Qahtani (46) has been released and repatriated back to Saudi Arabia to receive mental health care after deeming his imprisonment no longer presents a continuing significant threat to the national security of the US.
After notifying Congress on Friday of the decision to repatriate al-Qahtani, the DoD said in its statement that the United States appreciates Saudi Arabia’s willingness to support ongoing US efforts focused on responsibly reducing the Guantanamo Bay’s detainee population and ultimately closing of the facility.
According to the DoD data, 19 of the 38 detainees that are left in Guantanamo Bay are eligible for transfer, while seven are eligible for a Periodic Review Board, ten prisoners are involved in the military commissions process and two have been convicted in military commissions.
No decision has been made about what to do with the rest of the detainees who still face trial by the military commission.
After being accused of intending to take part in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a hijacker, Al-Qahtani had been detained in Guantanamo Bay in June 2002. He attempted to enter the US from Dubai one month prior 9/11 but was rejected entry amid suspicions that he was an illegal migrant.
During his detainment at Guantanamo, he was reportedly subjected to beatings, sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, and forced to stay in uncomfortable positions, which resulted in PTSD.
Al-Qahtani was tortured so intensely that he was found ineligible for trial in the US, especially since he was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
His lawyers obtained in 2020 a federal court order requiring a medical examination of the prisoner by an independent medical panel, that could have ordered his repatriation under Army regulations if the diagnosis of his doctors was confirmed, but the Trump administration contested the order.
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