Pentagon Attorney Cites UAE Security Guarantees Amid Russian Citizen’s Transfer

The high-level security in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made the country a frequent destination for transfer of detainees out of the US detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior attorney with the US Department of Defense Michel Paradis told Sputnik on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Sputnik) — Paradis commented in response to a question about the reason why former President Barack Obama chose the UAE as transfer destination for Russian citizen Ravil Mingazov, who has been a long-term detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

"I can say as a general matter that UAE has been something of a go-to default for the detainee repatriations over the years," Paradis told Sputnik.

Paradis also noted that the UAE has "a good track record on the various security guarantees that receiving countries are required to provide under the statutes governing the release of Guantanamo detainees."

On January 19, in the final day of Obama term in office, Mingazov was transferred to the UAE after being detained for 15 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Paradis, however, acknowledged he was not familiar with the particulars of Mingazov's case.

Russian Foreign Ministry commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov called the US move to transfer Mingazov a hasty step taken without a proper consular notification.

Dolgov added that Washington had repeatedly ignored Moscow's requests to return Mingazov to Russia.