Obama Administration Transfers 6 Guantanamo Detainees to Oman

The Obama administration transferred six detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay to Oman Friday night. The detainees arrived on a U.S. Air Force C-17 plane that dropped them off, then departed and cleared Oman’s air space around midnight EDT.

Although the pace of transfers increased last year, no detainees have been moved since January, when four went to Oman and one to Estonia. All six national security agencies that review detainee transfers approved the move, the first to under Defense Secretary Ash Carter. After Friday night, 116 detainees remain at Guantanamo, 51 of whom have been cleared for transfer.

Defense Department officials said the transfers occurred “in accordance with NDAA statutes requiring notifying Congress at least 30 days before transfer.” The officials said the Pentagon had notified the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, as well as the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

On June 3, a senior defense official told Defense One that the transfer of up to 10 detainees was likely to come within weeks, probably this month. But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., who would receive the notification as the transfers are within his committee’s jurisdiction, told Defense One the following day that he had not received any notification about any transfers. When asked for clarification, McCain’s office said they could not discuss notifications because they are classified.

Read more: http://www.defenseone.com/news/2015/06/obama-administration-transfers-gitmo-prisoners-oman/115222/