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COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
WASHINGTON, DC 20510?6050

July 24, 2018

The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State

2201 ST NW

Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Pompeo:

We are writing to express our profound concern with the recent transfer of two former
Guantanamo detainees from Senegal to Libya. As you may be aware, there is a legal prohibition
renewed annually in the National Defense Authorization Act that prohibits the transfer of
detainees from Guantanamo to Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia. That provision exists to
prevent these individuals from being transferred to unstable countries where they could be
assimilated into terrorist organizations, tortured, or killed.

We are concerned the State Department does not have someone tasked with, and
responsible for, oversight of detainees who have been transferred out of Guantanamo. While we
are familiar with the administration?s change in policy with regard to Guantanamo?s closure, we
believe oversightof former Guantanamo detainees remains a lasting issue. We urge you to
immediately assign responsibility for the oversight of former Guantanamo. detainees to an
existing Bureau, such as Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism, and dedicate an
individual within that office to manage this issue.

Additionally, we are disturbed that the government of Senegal transferred these
individuals to Libya in violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law. These
individuals were living peace?illy in Senegal, and one of them was engaged to a Senegalese
citizen. Since they have been transferred to Libya, according to press accounts, they have been
held in detention, have been unable to contact their families, and have not been seen publicly.
The New York Times has reported that they have fallen into the hands of a hard?line militia leader
who has been accused of prisoner abuse. It is unclear whether they are still alive or in good
health. We therefore request that the State Department reach out to the government of Libya and
offer to help to resettle these individuals in other countries. We also request that the State
Department propose immediately that the government of Libya provide access to these
individuals to international NGOs or human rights groups.

 

Oversight of these former Guantanamo detainees remains a lasting issue, especially with
additional former Guantanamo detainees in similar situations worldwide, and we thank you for
your prompt attention to this issue.

Sincerely,

 

  

 

 

 

 

612! Reed Dianne Feinstein
ited States Senator United States Senator
ames Risch Marco Rubio

 

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