Homeward bound

last updated 8 January 2015

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

The Pentagon plans to release 140 suspected Taliban and al Qaida fighters being held at Guantanamo Bay, military officials said this week. Some of the prisoners will be sent home as early as this month without charges, while others will be transferred to jails in their home countries. Human rights groups have criticized the U.S. for detaining 660 men and boys at the Guantanamo Navy base without access to lawyers. The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether they can challenge their detention in U.S. courts. Military officials said that they were releasing “the easiest 20 percent.” Some, according to Time, had been kidnapped by Afghan warlords, who collected a bounty for turning over suspects to the Americans.