State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday that "very few" released Guantanamo Bay detainees return to terrorism while addressing the transfer of 15 Gitmo prisoners by the Obama administration.
President Obama, who has sought to close Gitmo since he took office, sent 15 detainees to the United Arab Emirates this week, the largest single transfer of prisoners from the detention facility of his presidency. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) said the 12 Yemenis and three Afghans in the transfer are "among the worst terrorists who could jeopardize our national security and the lives of our troops."
A reporter asked Toner whether the government could guarantee recidivism wouldn't happen, and if not, why release the prisoners.
"The detainees have been vetted through what is a very rigorous process, and I can assure you that it's a very rigorous process—looked at all of the, you know, whether they would return to the battlefield," Toner said. "Recidivism, I guess, is the terminology used. Is it 100 percent foolproof? Have there been no cases or zero cases of this happening? Well, no. There have been cases of it, but very few."
The Obama administration said in June that at least 12 former Gitmo detainees had launched attacks against the U.S. or its allied forces in Afghanistan, killing at least six Americans.
Full exchange:
REPORTER: I was wondering if you can guarantee the American people that the 15 detainees released this week won't go right back out into the battlefield to fight against and target Americans, and if not, why continue to release them?
MARK TONER: Well, uh, good question. I think that we've talked about this before, but what's important is that any time—so, as we scale down Gitmo and hopefully one day close it all together, the detainees have been vetted through what is a very rigorous process, and I can assure you that it's a very rigorous process, looked at all of the, you know, whether they would return to the battlefield. Recidivists, recidivism, I guess, is the terminology used. Is it 100 percent foolproof? Have there been no cases or zero cases of this happening? Well, no. There have been cases of it, but very few.
I don't know the percentage in front of me, but it's incredibly small. By and large, these detainees that have been sent to various countries and governments who have accepted them, have worked very hard to maintain surveillance of these individuals, to keep track of them, keep an eye on them, if you will, to ensure that they no longer pose a security threat to anyone, not just the American people, but to anyone. That is something that we take very seriously. These governments who take these detainees on and find them homes and resettle them also take it very seriously, because it's on their home soil that these people are living. That's step one in any kind of plan to close Gitmo, where you relocate the detainees. I think security, safety of innocent civilians is foremost.