Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: The United States Department of Defence on Thursday said that they would be shifting Pakistani detainee Majid Khan from Guantanamo Bay to Belize, the Central American nation.
In a statement, it said Majid Khan had allegedly pled guilty before a Military Commission in February 2012. He was sentenced in 2021 to 10 years of confinement with credit for the years he spent cooperating with the United States. He has subsequently completed his sentence.
On December 22 last year, Secretary of Defence Austin notified Congress of his intent to transfer Majid Khan to Belize, and, in consultation with Belize partners, the requirements for responsible transfer were completed. As part of his plea agreement, Majid pledged to cooperate with the US government and honoured his cooperation commitment. Belize will now oversee his period of supervised release.
Who is Majid Khan?
Majid, a Pakistani was apprehended in March 2003 in Karachi. He is also believed to have held American residency permit at the time of his detention. He was then kept and interrogated in ‘proxy detention’ for two months before being handed over to US Central Investigation Agency (CIA) also in 2003.
CIA documents show that he was subjected to sleep deprivation, torture, nudity, dietary manipulation, and even ice water bath as enhanced interrogation techniques.
Majid himself claimed that he was “subjected to immersion in a tub that was filled with ice and water” during May 2003. He wasn’t transferred to Guantanamo until September 2006.
Today, 34 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay. Of these 20 are eligible for transfer. Three are eligible for a Periodic Review Board; while nine are involved in the military commissions process. The remaining two detainees have been convicted in military commissions.
