Guantanamo Prison Is Now Down To 30 Inmates

The sun sets behind the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. AP Photo/Alex Brandon 

The Hill: Pentagon transfers detainee to Algeria, leaving 30 at Guantanamo 

The Defense Department on Thursday announced the transfer of another Guantanamo Bay prisoner, dropping the infamous prison’s population to 30 incarcerated individuals. 

The U.S. returned Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002, to his home country of Algeria, according to a release from the Pentagon. 

Bakush was repatriated after a board hearing last year determined his detention was no longer necessary to protect U.S. national security. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin notified Congress of his release in February.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Being 20 years in jail will age anyone .... Guantanamo Bay prisoners show signs of ‘accelerated ageing’: ICRC (Al Jazeera).

Biden Administration Quietly Moves To Start Closing Guantánamo Prison

 

NBC: Biden quietly moves to start closing Guantánamo ahead of 20th anniversary of 9/11 

The Biden team wants to avoid what it sees as mistakes made by Obama. "They don't want it to become a lightning rod," said a former senior official. 

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has quietly begun efforts to close the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, using an under-the-radar approach to minimize political blowback and to try to make at least some progress in resolving a long-standing legal and human rights morass before the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 

After initial plans for a more aggressive push to close the facility — including rebuffed attempts to recruit a special envoy to oversee the strategy — the White House changed course, sources said. 

The administration has opted to wait before it reaches out to Congress, which has thwarted previous efforts to close the camp, because of fears that political outcry might interfere with the rest of Biden's agenda.  

Read more .... 

More News On The Biden Administration Quietly Moving To Start Closing Guantánamo Prison  

Biden Reportedly Making Moves To Begin Closing Guantanamo Bay—And Trying To Avoid Obama’s Mistakes -- Forbes  

Report: Biden hopes to close Guantánamo by the end of his first term -- The Hill  

Biden Looking to Close Guantanamo Detention Facility -- PJ Media  

Biden working under the radar to close Guantanamo by 9/11 -- Washington Examiner  

Biden Launches Plan To Close Gitmo "Quietly" After Obama Tried & Failed -- Zero Hedge  

U.S. considering envoy for closing Guantanamo prison -- Reuters

President Trump Signs Executive Order To Keep Guantanamo Prison Open

Politico: Trump orders Guantanamo prison to remain open

President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to remain open.

Trump announced the executive order, initially reported by POLITICO, during his first State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. It directs the prison stay open and allows the possibility Trump could send new enemy combatants there.

"I just signed, prior to walking in, an order directing [Defense] Secretary [Jim] Mattis ... to re-examine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay," Trump said.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: In the current international environment coupled with current U.S. law .... no U.S. President and Congress will sign-off and close Guantanamo.

More News On President Trump Signing An Executive Order To Keep Guantanamo Prison Open

Trump orders Guantanamo detention center to stay open -- Reuters
Trump signs order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open -- AP
Trump signs order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open -- BBC
Gitmo to Stay Open and Take in More Prisoners: Trump -- Military.com
Trump signs order to keep Guantanamo open -- CNN
Trump signs order to keep Gitmo open -- The Hill
Guantanamo Bay to remain open, Trump says: 'I am keeping another promise' -- Fox News
Trump just signed an executive order that will keep Guantanamo open -- Vox

Report: Trump Administration Readies Draft Executive Order On Keeping Guantanamo Bay Prison Open

Politico: Trump plans to sign order keeping Gitmo open, leaked doc reveals

A draft State Department cable previews the president's plan to rescind one of President Barack Obama's first official actions and keep open a military prison for suspected terrorists.

President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would reverse an Obama-era directive to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a draft document obtained by POLITICO.

Trump is expected to announce plans to sign the order during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, or in the days before or after the address, a person familiar with the issue said.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: So much for President Obama's vow 8 years ago to close it .... The Closing Of Guantanamo -- News, Analysis, And Commentary (January 23, 2009)

More News On Reports That The Trump Administration Is Readying A Draft Executive Order To Keep Guantanamo Bay Prison Open

Trump administration readies draft executive order on Guantanamo Bay -- Washington Post
Trump will order Guantanamo Bay prison to remain open - formally reversing an Obama's directive - after promising to 'load it up with some bad dudes' as a candidate (Daily Mail)
Trump planning to sign executive order keeping Gitmo open: report -- The Hill
Trump planning to keep Guantanamo open with new executive order: report -- NYDaily News
Trump to reverse Obama's 'closure' of still open Gitmo, yet another Washington leak suggests -- RT

Should The U.S. Military Be Burning Art From Guantanamo Detainees?

Muhammad Ansi, Hand Holding Red Flowers, 2015 (color photocopy of original and reverse, showing stamps indicating approval for release from Guantánamo).

Kara Weisenstein, VICE: The Military Is Burning Art from Guantanamo That the World Should See

An exhibition of detainee art has the Pentagon riled, but destroying it is a cruel form of censorship.

For all its notoriety, most Americans know very little about Guantanamo Bay. A decade and a half after 9/11, it remains shrouded in secrecy—a remote prison in Cuba where America sent alleged terrorists to rot indefinitely without due process.

Since 2002, 779 detainees have been held there—nine died in custody, 15 were minors, and only nine have actually been charged with a crime. Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo when he was running for president in 2008. Since then, 730 prisoners have been transferred or resettled in other countries. But 41 remain, and if you believe Donald Trump’s threats to fill Guantanamo back up with "bad dudes," there may be more in the near future.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is a tough one for me. I say this because my own father went to an auction 25 years ago to bid on a painting by Hitler. He fought in the Soviet army during the war .... and of course he knew what the Nazis under Hitler did. But buy a paint done by him?!?!?! As I said .... this is a tough one for me. Would a painting done by 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be of value to someone who lost a loved one in 9/11 .... if it was up to me I say burn it. But many are (appearing) to say no.

These Are The Books And Movies In The Guantanamo Bay Prison Library

The entrance to Camp 1 in Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta. Photo via DoD

The Warzone/The Drive: We Now Know What Books and Movies are in the Guantanamo Bay Prison Library

The Harry Potter series and its brutal, fictional jail Azkaban have made notable impressions on the inmates.

The U.S. military’s detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – almost universally known as “Gitmo” and often abbreviated “GTMO” – is controversial to say the least, prompting continued and heated debates over torture and other legal issues, as well being a lightning rod for general criticism of U.S. counter-terrorism operations around the world. But the camp is also a prison with many of the same banal features of any other such facility, including a library, and thanks to an enterprising individual’s Freedom of Information Act Request, we now know what’s in its somewhat eclectic catalog.

In July 2015, a private individual submitted a FOIA request for the “GTMO Inmate Library Catalogue of Books” and the “GTMO Inmate Library Catalogue of Videos/Films.” Nearly two years later, U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the Guantanamo Bay naval base and Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), sent along the more than 600 pages listing all the items in the library’s various catalogs, including duplicates. Government transparency website GovernmentAttic.org posted a copy of these records online in August 2017.

Read more ....

Update: The DoD Just Released A List Of Every Movie And Book in Gitmo’s Prison Library (Task & Purpose)

WNU Editor: The entire list is here (the link is here). Interestingly .... the Bible is not on the list, but there are 157 DVDs and books on the Koran.

Trump Administration Lay The Groundwork To Expand The Use Of Guantanamo Prison

Chain link fence and concertina wire surrounds a deserted guard tower within Joint Task Force Guantanamo's Camp Delta at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

New York Times: Trump Officials Renew Effort to Expand Use of Prison at Guantánamo

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is making a fresh attempt at drafting an executive order on handling terrorism detainees, reviving a struggle to navigate legal and geopolitical obstacles to expand use of the Guantánamo Bay wartime prison, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.

Administration officials said President Trump had been expected to sign a detention policy order three weeks ago. But that plan changed after he fired his first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on July 28 and replaced him with John F. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who once oversaw the prison operation at the American naval base in Cuba.

Instead, officials said, on July 31 — Mr. Kelly’s first day — the National Security Council announced that the White House wanted a new round of interagency deliberations. The message came during a secure video teleconference with counterterrorism strategy and legal officials at military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies.

The agencies were asked to consider three potential versions of the order and make recommendations by this week, according to an official familiar with that process.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Unlike the Obama administration that preferred to eliminate terror targets via through air-strikes, it appears that the Trump administration is more open to launching raids targeting the capture of known terror commanders and leaders, and to then use Guantanamo as the place to detain and interrogate them. Nothing is official yet, but it appears that a more detailed decision will be made in the weeks to come.

These Are The TV Channels That Guantanamo Detainees Are Permitted To Watch

The Guantánamo, Cuba, prison where the American government holds dozens of terrorism suspects. Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Spencer Ackerman, Daily Beast: Gitmo Detainees Get Russian Propaganda From U.S. Military

The detention facility’s most notorious terror suspects have only one option for English-language television news: RT, the Kremlin-backed network.

The secretive wing of Guantanamo Bay reserved for the highest-priority terrorist suspects is an unlikely place for Russian propaganda.

But letters from one of its long-term residents indicate that for at least two years, the only English-language news accessible to these survivors of CIA black sites is RT, the Kremlin channel that loves to broadcast whatever makes America look terrible.

Guantanamo officials would not comment on why RT, which U.S. intelligence considers a key component of Vladimir Putin’s global messaging, gets shown in Gitmo’s Camp 7. Inmates there include confessed 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and accused USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Another one of those cellmates is Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani. Apprehended by the CIA in Pakistan in 2007, Afghani has written to his attorney voluminously—displaying a Seinfeld-esque sense of humor unexpected from a man who was once forced awake for so long he hallucinated. But among Afghani’s observations is that he and the 14 other Camp 7 detainees are fed a media diet heavy on RT.

In a March 15, 2017 letter Afghani wrote, “It’s the only western news we get—and it’s from Moscow.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: If it was up to me .... I would only make a loop where these detainees will see nothing but "The View", "Doctor Phil", and "The Price Is Right". If they do not break down because of the View, they will be psychoanalysing themselves on why they cannot get the price right on "The Price Is Right".

Guantanamo Bay Prison Will Soon Be Back In Business

Foreign Policy: Trump Finalizes Executive Order to Put ISIS Detainees in Guantánamo

The draft directive backtracks on torture and black sites — but the shift in counterterrorism strategy carries new risks.

The Trump administration is finalizing an executive order that effectively tells allies and Islamic State fighters alike: Guantánamo is open for business.

The imminent directive temporarily bars the transfer of any current detainees and instructs the U.S. military to bring any new detainees — explicitly including Islamic State militants — to the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, according to a draft of the executive order, which is expected as soon as this week. The draft directive was first released Wednesday by the New York Times, and Foreign Policy independently confirmed the details with current and former officials.

Read more ....

More News On President Trump's Executive Order To Expand Guantanamo Prison

ISIS Detainees May Be Held at Guantánamo, Document Shows -- New York Times
Plenty Of Room At Guantanamo Bay For Trump's 'Bad Dudes' -- NPR
ISIS Under Trump: Executive Order Would Send Islamic State Detainees To Guantanamo Bay -- International Business Times
Revised Executive Order Backs off Dangerous Black Site Proposal, Keeps Guantanamo Open -- Human Rights First

18 More Guantanamo Detainees To Be Freed Within Days

Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: At least 18 MORE Guantanamo detainees to be freed within days as Obama starts mass transfer of fanatics who have threatened to bomb and behead Americans

* DailyMail.com has learned that at least 22 of the 59 Guantanamo Bay detainees should be transferred before January 20; four were moved on Thursday
* Move would mean more than a third of the detainees leaving U.S. custody before Donald Trump takes office
* Trump has already warned President Obama against moving any of those there saying they are 'dangerous'
* DailyMail.com lists every detainee still held at Cuban facility first opened in 2002 - including one who threatened to behead a guard but is cleared to go
* Transfer scheme lets other countries take responsibility for the detainees but critics say supervision is minimal and some have returned to terror
* Those freed on Thursday were four Yemenis sent to Saudi Arabia
* Previously freed detainees have returned to the jihad, including at least four members of group which says it carried out Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris

President Obama is planning to transfer at least 18 more Guantanamo Bay detainees within days after announcing that four prisoners are being sent to Saudi Arabia, DailyMail.com has learned.

The group being released will be drawn from those held at Guantanamo - who include an accused senior al Qaeda bomb-maker, the terror group's top financial manager, and two intended 9/11 hijackers, who have all been held in
the Cuba-based U.S. detention facility for more than a decade.

According to a military source briefed on the process, as total of 22 detainees are being prepared for transfer out of the camp, also known as Gitmo, before January 20.

Read more ....

More News On Additional Guantanamo Detainees To Be Freed Within Days

Obama administration begins final tranche of Guantanamo prisoner transfers -- Washington Post
Guantanamo Bay releases continue as Yemenis arrive in Saudi Arabia -- BBC
US transfers more Guantanamo prisoners; 55 remain -- CNN
Four Guantanamo detainees transferring to Saudi Arabia, as part of final wave -- FOX News
Obama Ignores Trump in Releasing More Prisoners from Gitmo -- Military.com
Obama sends four Guantanamo detainees to Saudi Arabia as clock winds down -- VICE News
Obama Freed 75 Percent of Gitmo Terrorists -- Washington Free Beacon

Pentagon Official Admits That The Release Of Guantanamo Detainees Has Led To American Deaths

Soldiers attached to Joint Task Force Guantanamo walk through Camp Delta at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Tuesday

Washington Post: Pentagon official: Release of Guantanamo detainees has led to American deaths

A senior Pentagon official said Wednesday that the release of detainees from the U.S. military’s prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has led to American deaths, though he did not provide any specific examples.

Paul Lewis, the Defense Department’s special envoy for Guantanamo closure, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee under questioning that “unfortunately, there have been Americans that have died because of Gitmo detainees.” He did not provide any details on whether those deaths occurred in terrorist attacks or on a military battlefield, or how many Americans were killed.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This Pentagon official has just killed the case to close Guantanamo, and this information will be used by the Republicans in the upcoming elections.

More News On The U.S. Admitting That The Release Of Guantanamo Detainees Has Led To American Deaths

Officials say Guantanamo transfers have killed Americans -- AP
Pentagon official ties released Guantanamo detainees to U.S. deaths -- Reuters
US official: Gitmo transfers have resulted in American deaths -- The Hill
Pentagon Envoy Says Closing Guantanamo is National Security Issue -- US Department of Defense

Pentagon Has Submited Its Plan To The White House To Close Guantanamo Prison

The secret files include intelligence assessments of nearly 700 Guantanamo Bay detainees. (Reuters: Joe Skipper )

CNN: Carter readies plan to bring Gitmo detainees to U.S.

(CNN) Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday he is readying a plan for President Barack Obama that would house some remaining Guantanamo Bay detainees in a secure facility in the U.S.

"That plan will propose bringing those detainees to an appropriate, secure location in the United States," Carter said. "While we work with Congress on a way forward, we will continue to transfer Guantanamo detainees to other countries when and as we have mitigated the risk to the United States."

A senior administration official said the plan does not include naming a specific site for relocation but rather includes a list of potential locations.

The possibilities are understood to include the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado; the military prison in Leavenworth, Kansas; and the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina.

The official said Obama is in the "final stages" of reviewing the plan.

Read more ....

Update: Pentagon Sends Obama Plan to Close Guantanamo, Move Detainees to US (Defense One)

WNU Editor: This is going to cause a fire-storm with Congress .... doubly so since this is an election year.

White House Chief Of Staff: President Obama Will Close Guantanamo

A U.S. Army soldier closes the gate at maximum security prison Camp Delta at Guantanamo Naval Base August 25, 2004 in Guantanamo, Cuba. REUTERS/MARK WILSON/POOL

Reuters: Obama to make good on Guantanamo pledge: White House chief of staff

President Barack Obama will make good on a promise to close the U.S. naval prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, his chief of staff Denis McDonough said on "Fox News Sunday."

Obama will first present a long-awaited plan to Congress about how to close the facility, and seek its approval, McDonough said in an interview. If Congress fails to act, the White House will determine what steps to take, he said.

"He feels an obligation to the next president. He will fix this so that they don't have to be confronted with the same set of challenges," McDonough said.

Obama pledged during the 2008 presidential election campaign that he would close the military prison, which housed foreign terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

WNU Editor: The next U.S. president is going to be saddled with multiple wars and conflicts, economic uncertainly, and rising tensions with Russia/China/Middle East/etc. .... but the White House Chief of Staff is proud to say that the next President will not be saddled with the US naval prison in Guantanamo. Sighhh .... Guantanamo could have been closed in the first two years of President Obama's term when he had super-Democrat-majorities in both houses of Congress. It failed then as it will now for the simple reason that most Congressional representatives and Senators believe that it should not be closed. Talk about throwing a non-existent bone to the next US President .... but I guess it will appease the left-wing base of the Democrat party that at least something is being done.

Is The Pentagon Blocking President Obama's Efforts To Close Guantanamo?

U.S. President Barack Obama signs an executive order regarding the closure of the military prison at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on his second official day as president at the White House in Washington in this January 22, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Larry Downing/Files

Reuters: Special Report: Pentagon thwarts Obama's effort to close Guantanamo

In September, U.S. State Department officials invited a foreign delegation to the Guantanamo Bay detention center to persuade the group to take detainee Tariq Ba Odah to their country. If they succeeded, the transfer would mark a small step toward realizing President Barack Obama's goal of closing the prison before he leaves office.

The foreign officials told the administration they would first need to review Ba Odah's medical records, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the episode. The Yemeni has been on a hunger strike for seven years, dropping to 74 pounds from 148, and the foreign officials wanted to make sure they could care for him.

For the next six weeks, Pentagon officials declined to release the records, citing patient privacy concerns, according to the U.S. officials. The delegation, from a country administration officials declined to identify, canceled its visit. After the administration promised to deliver the records, the delegation traveled to Guantanamo and appeared set to take the prisoner off U.S. hands, the officials said. The Pentagon again withheld Ba Odah's full medical file.

Update: Report: Obama scolded Pentagon chief on Guantanamo transfers (The Hill).

WNU Editor: Guantanamo prison is run by the U.S. military .... and President Obama is the Commander in Chief. He can do what he wants and/or orders .... and I am sure that if he felt that he was being blocked .... transfers/firings/dismissals will quickly follow suit. In fact .... if he was serious about closing Guantanamo he could have done it in 2009 - 2010 when the Democrats had super-majorities in both Houses, But he did not .... due to his own Party's pressure and worries on closing the facility. But the part of this Reuter's report that I found interesting was this ....

.... The Bush administration faced no political opposition on transfers and was able to move 532 detainees out of Guantanamo over six years, 35 percent of whom returned to the fight, according to U.S. intelligence estimates. The Obama administration has been able to transfer 131 detainees over seven years, 10 percent of whom have returned to the fight.

It looks like the Bush administration were sloppy in determininig who was going to return to the fight (or not).

U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter: Pentagon Looking For A U.S. Mainland Site To Send Gitmo Detainees

USA Today: Defense secretary: We're looking at U.S. sites for Gitmo detainees

WASHINGTON — Pentagon teams are examining sites in the United States to move terror detainees currently held at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday.

The first two sites are the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the naval brig at Charleston, S.C., Carter said.

"That does not mean those sites will be chosen," Carter said.

The teams will look elsewhere for potential sites in the United States, Carter said, but he did not identify them.

There is nothing so far on alternatives to Leavenworth or Charleston, said a senior defense official speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The Pentagon is waiting on a report from the federal Bureau of Prisons on alternatives, the official said.

WNU Editor: Defense Secretary Ash Carter is saying that Guantanamo is a rallying cry for Jihadist propaganda .... I disagree. This blog has been following Jihadi groups and their war and propaganda operations for years .... Guantanamo is on the bottom of their list as a cause to rally their supporters .... especially now. Where Guatanamo is on the top of the list ... it is for civil libertarians and political groups/politicians who have been in  disagreement with past and current U.S. policy towards the "war on terror". It is this group that President Obama is trying to placate. My prediction .... Congress has been very clear on this issue .... they have voted that Guantanamo is to stay open .... but it looks like the White House is going to ignore them, and the Pentagon will be doing their transfers before the end of President Obama's term.

More News On U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter Stating That The Pentagon Is Looking For U.S. Site To Send Gitmo Detainees

Ash Carter: Pentagon teams examining U.S. sites to house Guantanamo Bay detainees -- CNN
Pentagon chief eyes alternative prisons for Guantanamo detainees -- Fiscal Times/Reuters
Carter urges closing Guantanamo, says facility a rallying cry for jihadis -- Stars and Stripes
Pentagon assessing US options for Guantanamo detainees -- AP
Can U.S. prisons house Guantanamo detainees? -- CBS/AP
Pentagon Considering Prisons in Kansas, South Carolina for Guantanamo Bay Detainees -- Washington Free Beacon
Senator warns Pentagon on moving Gitmo detainees to his state -- The Hill

White House Still Determined To Close Guantanamo Prison

A guard tower of Camp Delta is seen at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba September 4, 2007. Reuters/Joe Skipper

New York Times: Obama’s Plan for Guantánamo Is Seen Faltering

WASHINGTON — President Obama is enjoying a winning streak lately, with the Supreme Court reaffirming his signature health care law and Iran agreeing to curbs on its nuclear program. But one longstanding goal continues to bedevil him: closing the wartime prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The administration’s fitful effort to shut down the prison is collapsing again. Ashton B. Carter, in his first six months as defense secretary, has yet to make a decision on any newly proposed deals to transfer individual detainees. His delay, which echoes a pattern last year by his predecessor, Chuck Hagel, is generating mounting concern in the White House and State Department, officials say.

Last week, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, convened a cabinet-level “principals committee” meeting on how to close the prison before the president leaves office in 18 months. At that meeting, Mr. Carter was presented with an unsigned National Security Council memo stating that he would have 30 days to make decisions on newly proposed transfers, according to several officials familiar with the internal deliberations.

Update: White House says it is drafting plan to close Guantanamo -- Reuters

WNU Editor: Another example where the wishes and laws of the U.S. Congress will not be respected by this White House.

Guantanamo Detainees Are Continuing To Throw Feces, Urine, Sperm & Vomit At The Guards

 

RT: Guantanamo prisoners now throwing feces, urine, sperm & vomit at guards

Detainees at the US Guantanamo Bay prison have resorted to assaulting guards with bodily fluids, top marine general John Kelly said at a Senate committee. 

Kelly gave a description of the assaults on Thursday at a press briefing, following an announcement earlier. “They [the detainees] concoct a cocktail. Usually its feces, urine, sperm, vomit… When the guard comes to, say, take their trash… they will splash them.” 

According to the general, prisoners housed in single cells are usually the ones carrying out the attacks, which aren’t restricted to bodily waste.  

WNU Editor: This has been a form of protest at Guantanamo for a very long time. I also suspect that for some of the "hard-core" detainees who are now realizing that they are going to be in Guantanamo and/or another prison for the rest of their lives .... their frustrations are rising. On a side note .... of the 647 Guantánamo detainees that have been released, 116 have returned to terrorist or insurgent activities .... Guantánamo, detainee reengagement and tackling hard questions (Laurie R. Blank, The Hill).

U.S. Releases Five More Detainees From Guantanamo

Al Jazeera: Five Yemeni inmates released from Guantanamo

US transfers detainees to Oman and Estonia, at least six years after the Pentagon cleared them for release.

More News On The U.S. Releasing Five More Detainees From Guantanamo

Five Yemenis transferred from U.S. custody at Guantanamo: Pentagon -- Reuters
Five Guantanamo detainees released to Estonia and Oman - leaving 122 in the detention center Obama pledged to close -- AP
Pictures show ‘catastrophic’ effects of Boko Haram attacks -- France 24
5 Guantanamo Prisoners Released, Sent to Estonia and Oman -- NYT
Guantanamo inmates sent to Oman, Estonia as military moves ahead with closure push -- Washington Post
U.S. Releases Five Yemeni Men From Guantanamo Bay -- WSJ
Five Guantanamo Bay prisoners released -- The Hill
5 more released from Guantanamo -- UPI
US Releases Five Guantanamo Detainees -- VOA
Pentagon: US frees five Guantanamo prisoners --Deutsche Welle
5 suspected al-Qaeda fighters released from Guantanamo Bay -- Mashable

Top U.S. General: Gitmo A ´Psychological Scar On Our National Values´

The Hill: Dempsey: Gitmo a 'psychological scar on our national values'

WNU Editor: I call this "laying the groundwork" for the closure of Guantanamo this year.

U.S. Wants To Transfer Dozens of Guantanamo Detainees In The Next 6 Months

U.S. Hopes To Transfer Dozens From Gitmo In 6 Months, Official Says -- CNN

(CNN) -- The Obama administration hopes to transfer dozens of detainees from Guantanamo Bay in the next six months as part of a stepped-up effort to reduce the population there, according to a U.S. official.

As many as five detainees are expected to be moved from the detention facility in the next few days, with several more transfers anticipated in early 2015, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The news comes less than a week after the United States announced it had repatriated four detainees from Guantanamo to Afghanistan, leaving 132 detainees at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba.

President Barack Obama hinted at the intensified effort in an exclusive interview on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, saying, "I'm going to be doing everything I can to close it."

Read more ....

My Comment: So much for listening to the objections from Congress. When this is over there will only be a handful of detainees left, and it would not surprise me if these detainees will then be transferred to U.S. prisons .... again over the objections of Congress.