U.S. Moves Closer to Closing Guantanamo Bay

[ucrdem]

1. More from the WSJ story, same link:

Since the May speech, the administration has transferred 11 detainees. Ms. Prasow said that showed a renewed political will to reduce the population in the prison.

Dixon Osburn, director of the law and security program at advocacy group Human Rights First, said the increased pace of transfers showed the administration was making good on its promises. "I do see the administration committed to whittling down the numbers of detainees remaining at Guantanamo," he said.

Mr. Dixon said the new Defense Authorization Act, signed in December by Mr. Obama, should make it easier to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo.

Off the 155 detainees in the prison, 76 have been cleared for transfer, although 55 are from Yemen, where al Qaeda-fueled violence has made transfers difficult. Ms. Prasow said she believed there is a very good chance the other 21 detainees cleared for transfer could be removed from Guantanamo by the end of the Obama administration, but that could still leave many detainees inside the prison.