WASHINGTON – The U.S. has transferred two Malaysian detainees at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison to their home country, after they pleaded guilty to charges related to deadly 2002 bombings in Bali and agreed to testify against the alleged ringleader of that and other attacks, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The transfers, and the repatriation Tuesday of a Kenyan man who'd been held at Guantanamo for 17 years without charge, come as rights groups and others push the Biden administration to end the detention of more than a dozen other men held there without charge, and amid uncertainty over the incoming Trump administration's plans for Guantanamo.
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Prosecutors say Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep worked for years with Encep Nurjaman, known as Hambali, an Indonesian leader of al-Qaida affiliate Jemaah Islamiya. That includes helping Nurjaman escape capture after Oct. 12, 2002 bombings that killed 202 people at two night spots in Bali, U.S. officials said.
The two men entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and other charges in January. Their transfer comes after they provided testimony that prosecutors plan to use in the future against Nurjaman, the alleged mastermind, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Nurjaman is in custody in Guantanamo awaiting resumption of pre-trial hearings in January involving the Bali bombings and other attacks.
The two Malaysian men's transfers leave 27 detainees in custody at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay. President George W. Bush set up a military tribunal and prison after the Sept. 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks on the U.S.
Bin Lep’s Texas-based lawyer Brian Bouffard said it was unclear when his client might be released into the Malaysian community.
“I know that he will be monitored by Malaysian authorities. There’s not going to be any opportunity for him to get in trouble even if he were inclined to want to get in trouble. That’s not what he wants,” Bouffard said.
Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said in a statement the pair would undergo a comprehensive reintegration program that would include support in social services, welfare and health.
Malaysian police said in a statement the men returned to their homeland on Wednesday and would remain in custody for the duration of a rehabilitation program. Police did not say how long their incarceration would last.
Both were grateful to be back in Malaysia and committed to the rehabilitation process, police said.
Of the 202 killed in the attack, 88 were Australians. Australian survivors and victims' families were critical of the prospect of the Malaysians being freed.
A bomb killed two members of Tim Weatherald's Australian rules football team who he had been on vacation with in Bali.
“The thing for me is they showed no remorse. From my point of view, if they showed a bit of remorse, and a bit of care but they almost seem proud of what they have done. So I have no issue with them not ever seeing the light of day again,” he said.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office said in a statement she had conveyed to the United States and Malaysia “our close interest in this matter.”
“While the arrangements for the transfer are a matter for the Malaysian and U.S. governments, we have sought assurances from the Malaysian government that the individuals will be subject to ongoing supervision and monitoring,” the statement said.
At peak, Guantanamo detained hundreds of men, most Muslim, in the U.S. military's “war on terror” after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Just two of the men at Guantanamo are serving sentences. U.S. prosecution of seven others currently facing charges has been slowed by legal obstacles — including those presented by the torture of the men in their first years under CIA custody — and logistical difficulties.
On Tuesday, U.S. authorities repatriated a Kenyan man, Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, after 17 years at Guantanamo without charge.
His release leaves 15 other never-charged men awaiting release. The U.S. says it is searching for suitable countries willing to take them. Many are from Yemen, a country split by war and dominated by an Iranian-allied militant group.
Amnesty International urged President Joe Biden to end the detention of those never-charged men before he leaves office. If not, the rights group said in a statement, “he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the U.S. government."
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Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.