(CNN) — The United States has transferred two brothers detained in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay to Pakistan, the Defense Department said Thursday, as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing effort to shut down the prison.
Abdul Rabbani and Mohammed Rabbani were arrested during the decades-long US war on terror for running safe houses used by members of the al-Qaeda terror group, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks .
The brothers, who were never charged with a crime, were repatriated to Pakistan after it was determined their detention was no longer necessary to protect themselves from a “persistent and significant threat” to the United States, the Defense Department said in a statement .
“The United States appreciates the willingness of the government of Pakistan and other partners to support continued U.S. efforts focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and permanently closing the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the Pentagon said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin informed Congress in January of his intention to repatriate the Rabbani brothers to Pakistan.
His transfer comes after the Pentagon earlier this month announced the transfer of another Guantánamo detainee, Majid Khan, to Belize. Khan was convicted of terrorism offenses in 2012 and was serving his sentence.
Khan lived in the US from 1996 to early 2002 and was suspected of helping al-Qaeda plan attacks in the US and elsewhere. Authorities believed he had joined al-Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The U.S. flag flies March 22, 2016 at Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay Camp VI at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Source: Lucas Jackson/Portal/File)
The Guantanamo prison
According to the Department of Defense, there are currently 32 detainees in Guantánamo Bay, 18 of whom are eligible for transfer.
In order to close the prison, President Joe Biden would have to move the 32 inmates to other prisons or to other locations. When former President Barack Obama tried the five accused of planning 9/11 in New York City, he faced a swift public and political backlash.
Obama also pledged to close Guantánamo while campaigning for the White House and establishing the Office of Military Commissions and the Periodic Review Board system during his tenure, but failed to close the prison during his eight-year tenure.
Originally opened in 2002, the center was intended to be a place where suspects in the war on terror could be interrogated. But the detainees were held indefinitely, many without charge or trial, and were reportedly ill-treated.
As the US war on terror advanced, the detention center became an international symbol of US rights abuses in the post-9/11 era.
– CNN’s Paul LeBlanc and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.