Ex-Special Envoy for Guantanamo to Lead US Legal Efforts on Afghan Evacuees - Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Former US special envoy for Guantanamo, Lee Wolosky, will lead the Biden administration's legal efforts on resettling Afghan evacuees in the United States, Axios reported.

Wolosky, who worked on Guantanamo under US President Barack Obama, will serve as special counsel to US President Joe Biden and will leave his current position in Jenner & Block LLP, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

By adding an experienced attorney, Biden is hoping to ensure that his resettlement program works on a solid legal base, the report added.

On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the United States has so far admitted over 40,000 Afghan evacuees.

Prior to Guantanamo, Wolosky served as Director of Transnational Threats on the National Security Council under US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Guantanamo was established at the US naval base on the shore of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as a prison for international terrorists by the George Bush administration in 2002, after the notorious 'War on Terror' was announced a year before. The facility has long been criticized for alleged physical and psychological torture of prisoners, with human rights activists and international organizations calling for its closure.

In 2007, the website WikiLeaks posted a batch of documents and manuals depicting standard actions taken by US authorities to hide inmates at the Guantanamo Bay prison from the Red Cross, many of whom had been held for years without being charged.