Five prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay have been released by the U.S. government as ordered by President Barrack Obama, according to the AFP.
Four of the prisoners are from Yemen while one is from Tunisia. They were imprisoned for terror chargers and had been under U.S. custody for more than a decade.
With the addition of the five prisoners, 12 inmates from Guantanamo Bay have been released for this year. The release order is part of the Obama administration's decision to close down the high level military prison facility in Cuba. As of today, around 140 prisoners are still detained in Guantanamo Bay.
The order was given in May but due to political conflicts in Yemen, the government decided to postpone the prisoners' release.
Three of the prisoners were transported to Georgia. Their names are Salah Mohammed Salih al-Dhabi, Abdul Khaled al-Baydani and Abdel Ghaib Ahmad Hakim, Washington Post reported.
Yemeni Husayn Salim Muhammed al-Mutari and Tunisian Hasham Bin Ali Bin Amor Sliti were sent to Slovakia for resettlement procedures.
Pentagon spokesperson Myles Caggins stated that the military agency supervised the release and transfer of the prisoners.
"The U.S. coordinated with the government of Slovakia to ensure these transfers took place consistent with appropriate security and humane treatment measures," he said.
Reprieve, a legal support firm that represented Sliti, expressed its enthusiasm after learning about the news of the release.
According to the firm, Sliti was handed over by Pakistan to U.S. forces in 2002. He was detained and tortured for four months in Kandahar, Afghanistan, before being sent to Guantanamo Bay.
"I first met Hisham seven years ago. He no more belonged in prison then than today," Reprieve lawyer Cori Crider said in a press release.
"This is a welcome day, if long overdue, and Hisham is looking forward to rebuilding his life and starting a family," Crider continued. "Let us hope that the dozens of the other cleared men left in Gitmo will soon follow."
