34 prisoners are still held in the US Guantanamo prison camp after a Pakistani prisoner is released. He had reported being tortured by the CIA.
The United States has released a Pakistani who has been imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for 16 years and has stirred things up for alleged torture by the CIA. The US Department of Defense has announced that Majid Khan will now live in Belize, Central America.
Pakistanis tortured by the CIA
The 42-year-old was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. According to his own statements, he was tortured by the CIA during years of interrogation and later taken to Guantanamo. In October 2021, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison for supporting the al-Qaeda terror network.
However, he was promised early release in connection with an earlier admission of guilt. Khan pleaded guilty to involvement in an ultimately unsuccessful assassination plot against former Pakistani military leader Pervez Musharraf and later serving as a money man for an Islamist attack on a hotel in Indonesia.
Raped, beaten, tortured
At his sentencing trial in 2021, Khan made sad statements about his torture by the CIA. This was the first public exposure of the torture methods used by a detainee transferred to Guantanamo following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Khan described being raped, beaten and tortured with water by CIA interrogators. They were held in dark cells for days, some hung in chains, without food or clothing, loud music playing and guards pouring ice water on them. He confessed to his crimes but continued to be tortured:
Reduced detention: Khan ‘fulfilled his obligations’
The Pentagon has now said that Khan has fulfilled his obligations under a cooperation agreement and has therefore received a reduced sentence. Belize agreed to accept Pakistan.
“I have been given a second chance at life and I intend to make the most of it,” Khan said in a statement circulated by his lawyers. “I deeply regret what I did years ago and have accepted responsibility for it.” According to Khan, he now wants to open a restaurant or food truck in Belize.
34 prisoners left at Guantanamo
The camp is located at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. About 800 people were imprisoned there at times. The camp was established under Republican President George W. Bush to keep suspected Islamist terrorists from trial after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.
Human rights organizations have long called for the shutdown. There are currently 34 prisoners in the highly controversial camp.
Source: ZDF
I am Timothy Glover, a professional journalist and content creator. I specialize in writing and editing for news websites, specifically covering politics. I have been working as an author at News Unrolled for the past five years and have built up a reputation for producing quality content that is both informative and engaging.
