Saifullah Paracha, a 75-year-old prisoner was released after spending nearly two decades in US Military Prison in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr. Paracha was arrested in July 2003, two years after the attack of 9 September 2011, or 9/11 on the accusations that he was a sympathiser of Al-Qaeda.
Like many other prisoners, Saifullah Paracha was never formally charged and continued with his innocent status. He was initially taken to a military base in Bagram, Afghanistan where he was kept for 14 months before being transferred to the US detention facility in Cuba.
He was a Pakistani businessman who studied in the United States. He had an import-export business. The US authorities accused him of maintaining close contact with some of the senior figures of the militant group including Osama Bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. Mr. Paracha was further accused of helping the armed groups financially.
As he did not have enough legal power to challenge his detention, he remained in the prison for 17 years. His release was approved by the United States in May, where it was concluded that he was not a “continuing threat” to the US.
“As is customary, the notification did not provide detailed reasons for the decision and concluded only that Paracha was “not a continuing threat” to the US, according to Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, who represented him at his hearing at the time,” reported the Guardian.
The military prison was established after the 9/11 attacks to imprison the suspected members of Al-Qaeda during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. However, out of the total 780 people kept as prisoners of the “war on terror”, a striking 732 of them were released without any legal charge.
The prison received worldwide condemnation and is said to have deprived its inmates of their fundamental rights, subjecting them to harsh and inhumane treatment.
“Despite forceful, repeated and unequivocal condemnation of the operation of this horrific detention and prison complex with its associated trial processes, the United States continues to detain persons many of whom have never been charged with any crime,” the experts at United Nations Human Rights Commission remarked.”
Many of these prisoners were kept inside the detention facility for more than a decade without any proceedings. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, approved Mr. Paracha’s release last year, along with two other prisoners- Abdul Rahim Uthman, a 41 year old Yemeni and Abdul Rabbani, a 55 year old Pakistani.
Biden said that he aimed to close the prison before the end of his term; however the administration had made little efforts in that direction.
“The NSC will work closely with the Departments of Defense, State, and Justice to make progress toward closing the GTMO facility, and also in close consultation with Congress,” National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne told Reuters regarding the closing down of the facility.
“M.r Saif Ullah Paracha, a Pakistani national, who was detained in Guantanamo Bay reached Pakistan on Saturday, 29th October 2022,” the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said.
“We are glad that a Pakistani citizen detained abroad has finally reunited with his family,” it further added.
With more than 30 detainees still in the detention camp, it remains an imperative question as to why one of the most infamous prisons, known for human rights abuse, remains open?
