US Congress Should Reject Gitmo Transfer Restrictions - Human Rights Group

US Congress should vote against legal constraints that would impede the transfer of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detention facility, a US human rights group said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Monday, Republicans introduced stipulations within the NDAA that would rescind US President Barack Obama’s ability to unilaterally transfer prisoners, the release explained.

“Human Rights First today urged lawmakers to reject provisions in the FY (Fiscal Year] 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would increase onerous and unnecessary requirements on the transfer of cleared detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” the release, issued on Monday, said.

Obama should use his current authority, according to the release, to transfer detainees that have already been cleared by national security agencies as Congress debates these unnecessary provisions.

During the past year the Obama administration transferred 32 detainees from Guantanamo, marking significant progress towards closing the prison, the release claimed.

Only 5 percent of detainees transferred from Guantanamo during the Obama administration have been confirmed as re-engaging in militant activities, the rights group argued, down from 20 percent that returned to the battlefield under former US President George W. Bush.

However, despite the progress, if Obama does not increase the pace of detainee hearings and transfers he will be unable to close the prison by the end of his term, the release added.

Fifty-seven of the 122 detainees still held at Guantanamo Bay have already been cleared and should be transferred without delay, according to the release.

In January 2009, Obama signed an order to shut down Guantanamo following allegations that prisoners were subject to human rights violations, only to sign legislation in 2011 that, in part, hampered the transfer of prisoners.