DOD says some former Guantanamo detainees joining fight against US after release News
DOD says some former Guantanamo detainees joining fight against US after release

[JURIST] The US Department of Defense (DOD) [official website] Monday released the names and details of six former Guantanamo Bay detainees [JURIST news archive] that it claims joined the fight against the US after their release from detention. Among those so identified was Mohamed Yusif Yaqub, whom Pentagon officials said became the commander of Taliban operations in Southern Afghanistan following his release. The DOD is soon expected to release the unclassified results of an internal analysis of approximately 775 detainees [detainee list, PDF] that have been held in Guantanamo Bay detention facilities since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 [JURIST news archive]. Officials say that current DOD records indicate that 95 percent of detainees have been members or affiliates of Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and that 73 percent had engaged in hostilities against US or coalition troops. Approximately 385 detainees are currently held at Guantanamo Bay.

The Pentagon's internal analysis is a response to critics, including a Seton Hall law professor who released a report [PDF text; JURIST report] in November 2006 criticizing the US military's Combatant Status Review Tribunals [DOD materials] for not providing detainees adequate opportunity to contest the accusations against them or object to their status as enemy combatants [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.