The
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
acknowledges holding four Kazakh detainees in Guantanamo.
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]
A total of 778 detainees have been held in
extrajudicial detention
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...
in the
Guantanamo Bay detention camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...
s, in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
since the camps opened on January 11, 2002.
The camp population peaked in 2004 at approximately 660. Only nineteen new detainees, all "high value detainees" have been transferred there since the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
's ruling in
Rasul v. Bush
''Rasul v. Bush'', 542 U.S. 466 (2004), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held that foreign nationals held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp could petition federal courts for writs of ''habeas corp ...
. As of January 2008, the camp population stand at approximately 285.
Release negotiations
Kazakhstan's First Deputy Foreign Minister
Kairat Abuseitov confirmed, on January 16, 2003, that Kazakh security officials had interviewed two Kazakhstan citizens in Guantanamo.
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He described the two detainees as "young", and stated that Kazakhstan had appealed to the USA for their release.
In November 2003, the
Central Asia Caucasus Institute Analyst reported that
Kazakh Foreign Minister
Qasymzhomart Toqaev
Kazakhstan had been negotiated with the USA for the release of its citizens.
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]
The Minister stated:
Kazakh detainees in Guantanamo
Ambassador Ordway's 22 May 2007 press briefing
American ambassador
John M. Ordway addressed the Kazakhstani detainees in Guantanamo during a May 22, 2007, press briefing at the
Kazakhstani Press Club
The demographics of Kazakhstan enumerate the demographic features of the population of Kazakhstan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects ...
.
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Ordway confirmed that one detainee the USA considered a citizen of Kazakhstan remained in Guantanamo.
He stated that it was against US policy to compensate former detainees.
He asserted detainees were not detained any longer than necessary for US national security.
October 2008 repatriation
On October 31, 2008, the Department of Defense announced two detainees were repatriated to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.
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The DoD withheld the two men's names.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazakhstani Detainees In Guantanamo
*
Lists of Guantanamo Bay detainees by nationality
Kazakhstan–United States relations