GOP chairman: Gitmo detainees sent to ‘ill-equipped’ countries

The GOP chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is accusing the Obama administration of sending Guantanamo detainees to countries it knew could not handle them.

“Many Committee Members are concerned that in the rush to close this facility, the Administration is making agreements with countries that are ill-equipped to prevent recidivism,” Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) wrote in letters to Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ash Carter.  

{mosads}“Worse yet, it may be attempting to cover up this irresponsible policy. The testimony of Special Envoys for Guantanamo Closure Paul Lewis and Lee Wolosky before the Committee appears to conflict with documents provided to Congress.”

Royce said Lewis and Wolosky at a March 23 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing denied that the administration had ever knowingly transferred a detainee to a country that could not mitigate the risk of recidivism or maintain control of that person.  

But Royce said their statements conflict with classified notifications provided to Congress by the administration. 

“Classified reports submitted on May 31, 2013, July 15, 2014, and August 6, 2015, are riddled with derogatory assessments of some of the countries to which the Bush and Obama Administrations have transferred detainees. In many cases, these intelligence assessments preceded the transfer of individuals to these same countries,” Royce said in a statement. 

“Information supplied by the administration makes clear that these governments lack core competency, legal frameworks, and critical resources — something for which promises and bilateral agreements could never compensate,” he added. 

Still, detainees were transferred by the Obama administration to countries after “multiple derogatory assessments and public reporting of recidivism,” Royce wrote in the letter. 

“Congressionally-mandated certifications by the Secretary of Defense — also submitted prior to transfers — similarly indicated an inability to maintain custody and control in certain instances,” he added. 

“It certainly appears, therefore, that the Administration has indeed transferred individuals to countries that it knew could not meet critical security requirements.”

The letters also asked the departments to explain Lewis and Wolosky’s statements no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 27, 2016.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for a response.