‘NOTHING HAS CHANGED’

Gitmo Approves First Transfer of Detainee Brought From CIA Black Site

Guled Duran, who has never been charged with a crime, is the first detainee brought to Guantánamo Bay from a CIA black site approved for release.

A Somali detainee held at Guantánamo Bay since 2006 without being charged has been deemed safe for transfer with security guarantees by a panel. Guled Hassan Duran, 47, was first captured in 2004. He is the first high-value detainee brought to Guantánamo from a CIA black site to be approved for a transfer, according to a document obtained Monday by The New York Times. Duran is either the 14th or 15th of the 39 inmates remaining at Guantánamo to be recommended for transfer. However, Duran is unlikely to be moved out of Guantánamo to a country that agrees to take him with security arrangements acceptable to the Defense Department anytime soon. He remains unable to return to Somalia under congressional prohibition. The White House has transferred one detainee out of Guantánamo since Joe Biden took office—a Moroccan man whose release proceedings began during the Obama administration. “The administration remains dedicated to closing the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay,” a Pentagon spokesman said, declining to comment specifically on Duran’s case. “Nothing has changed about that.”