“A September 2014 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Guantanamo detainee reengagement found that recidivism rates dropped following implementation of the Executive Order Task Force process that began in 2009,” the official stated.
According to the report, the number of Guantanamo detainees released before 2009 who were “confirmed of reengaging” in terror or insurgent activities amounted to 19 percent, while among those released after 2009 this rate was as low as 6.8 percent.
The number of Guantanamo prisoners "suspected of reengaging” freed after 2009 constitutes only 1.1 percent compared to 14.3 percent rate before 2009.
The statement comes a day after the newly appointed chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain asserted that approximately 30 percent of those who have been released from Guantanamo detention facilities “have reentered the fight, and usually at a very high level."
US Senate Republicans during a Tuesday press conference on Capitol Hill unveiled a bill suspending further prisoner transfers from the US military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and imposing a two year ban on prisoner transfers to Yemen.
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp was established in 2002 following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Ever since, the military prison was subject of criticism by human rights advocates, as former detainees described the inhumane conditions of their imprisonment, including use of torture.
In 2009, US President Barack Obama issued an executive order to review the status of all individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and to shut down the detention facilities there. Up to date he has cut the number of detainees nearly in half but the complete shutdown has not taken place yet.
