The Guantanamo Review Task Force was created by Executive Order 13492 issued by President of the United States Barack Obama on January 22, 2009, his second full day in office. United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced Matthew G. Olsen as Executive Director of the task force on February 20, 2009. The task force was charged with determining which Guantánamo detainees can be transferred (released), which can be prosecuted for crimes they may have committed, and, if neither of those is possible, recommending other lawful means for disposition of the detainees.
Eric Holder and Matthew G. Olsen
The task force was an inter-agency task force, with the U.S. Department of Justice coordinating the efforts of officials from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security. The final report was issued January 22, 2010, but not publicly released until May 28, 2010. The Washington Post reported that the "administration sat on the report in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day because there was little public or congressional appetite for further discussion of its plan to close the military detention center."
Of the 240 detainees considered, the report recommended that 126 detainees should be transferred to their home country or to another country that was willing to accept them, 36 be prosecuted in either federal court or a military commission, 48 be held indefinitely under the laws of war and 30 Yemenis should be approved for transfer if security conditions in Yemen improved. As of May 2014, 149 detainees remain at Guantanamo. Congressional Representative Frank Wolf criticized the task force claiming it was subjected to political interference from the White House. On September 21, 2012, the United States Department of Justice published a list of the names of 55 Guantanamo captives who had been cleared for release. Danica Coto of the Associated Press reported that the publication of the names surprised human rights workers who had been seeking this information through Freedom of Information Act requests
Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that State Department officials had confirmed a 56 man's name had been left off the list, even though he too had been cleared for release, because his name was under seal. She reported that now that the captives's names have been published, the secrecy agreement their lawyers signed would no longer prevent them from contacting third countries to seek asylum themselves. Fausto Biloslavo, writing in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale told his readers about six Guantanamo captives, who had lived in Italy, and might be transferred to Italy. Those six men were Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammad Al-Yafi, Adel Bin Ahmed Bin Ibrahim Hkiml, Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi, Yunis Abdurrahman Shokuri, Abdul Bin Mohammed Bin Abess Ourgy, and Bensayah Belkacem.
Current Guantanamo Bay Detainee-Petitioners Approved For Transfer (Sept. 21, 2012) - ISN Detainee’s Name Civil
- ISN 34 Al Khadr Abdallah Muhammad Al-Yafi 05-CV-2386
- ISN 35 Idris Ahmad Abdu Qadir Idris 09-CV-0745
- ISN 36 Ibrahim Othman Ibrahim Idris 05-CV-1555
- ISN 38 Ridah Bin Saleh Al-Yazidi 07-CV-2337
- ISN 152 Asim Thabit Abdullah Al-Khalaqi 05-CV-0999
- ISN 153 Fayiz Ahmad Yahia Suleiman 10-CV-1411
- ISN 163 Khalid Abd Elgabar Mohammed Othman 05-CV-2088
- ISN 168 Adel Al-Hakeemy 05-CV-0429
- ISN 170 Sharif Al-Sanani 05-CV-2386
- ISN 174 Hisham Sliti 05-CV-0429
- ISN 189 Falen Gherebi 04-CV-1164
- ISN 197 Younous Chekkouri 05-CV-0329
- ISN 200 Saad Al-Qahtani 05-CV-2384
- ISN 224 Mahmoud Al-Shubati 07-CV-2338
- ISN 238 Nabil Said Hadjarab 05-CV-1504
- ISN 239 Shaker Aamer 04-CV-2215
- ISN 249 Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed Ba Odah 06-CV-1668
- ISN 254 Muhammed Ali Husayn Khunaina 05-CV-2223
- ISN 255 Said Muhammad Salih Hatim 05-CV-1429
- ISN 257 Omar Hamzayavich Abdulayev 05-CV-2386
- ISN 259 Fadhel Hussein Saleh Hentif 06-CV-1766
- ISN 275 Abdul Sabour 05-CV-1509
- ISN 280 Khalid Ali 05-CV-1509
- ISN 282 Sabir Osman 05-CV-1509
- ISN 288 Motai Saib 05-CV-1353
- ISN 290 Ahmed Bin Saleh Bel Bacha 05-CV-2349
- ISN 309 Muieen Adeen Al-Sattar 08-CV-1236
- ISN 326 Ahmed Adnan Ahjam 09-CV-0745
- ISN 327 Ali Al Shaaban 05-CV-0892
- ISN 329 Abdul Hadi Omar Mahmoud Faraj 05-CV-1490
- ISN 502 Abdul Bin Mohammed Ourgy 05-CV-1497
- ISN 511 Suleiman Awadh Bin Aqil Al-Nahdi 05-CV-0280
- ISN 553 Abdulkhaliq Ahmed Al-Baidhani 04-CV-1194
- ISN 554 Fahmi Salem Al-Assani 05-CV-0280
- ISN 564 Jalal Bin Amer Awad 04-CV-1194
- ISN 566 Mansour Mohamed Mutaya Ali 08-CV-1233
- ISN 570 Sabry Mohammed 05-CV-2385
- ISN 572 Saleh Mohammad Seleh Al-Thabbi 05-CV-2104
- ISN 574 Hamood Abdullah Hamood 06-CV-1767
- ISN 575 Saad Nasir Mukbl Al-Azani 08-CV-2019
- ISN 680 Emad Abdallah Hassan 04-CV-1194
- ISN 684 Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan 09-CV-0745
- ISN 686 Abdel Ghaib Ahmad Hakim 05-CV-2199
- ISN 689 Mohammed Ahmed Salam Al-Khateeb 09-CV-0745
- ISN 690 Abdul Qader Ahmed Hussein 05-CV-2104
- ISN 691 Mohammed Al-Zarnouqi 06-CV-1767
- ISN 722 Jihad Dhiab 05-CV-1457
- ISN 757 Ahmed Abdel Aziz 05-CV-0492
- ISN 894 Mohammed Abdul Rahman 05-CV-0359
- ISN 899 Shawali Khan 08-CV-1101
- ISN 928 Khiali Gul 05-CV-0877
- ISN 934 Abdul Ghani 09-CV-0904
- ISN 1015 Hussain Salem Mohammad Almerfedi 05-CV-1645
- ISN 1103 Mohammad Zahir 05-CV-2367
- ISN 10001 Belkacem Bensayah 04-CV-1166