Profile of Released Guantánamo Detainees: The Government’s Story Then and Now

A review of the Department of Defense’s own data reveals that there is not a consistent practice of releasing Guantanamo Bay detainees based on their alleged association to al Qaeda and/or the Taliban. In addition, the number of charges against any given detainee does not seem to affect his release date. Instead, the only constant correlation to detainees who are released earlier than others is the nationality of those released. A finding that the only causal relation to release date is nationality shows that either the Department of Defense never believed their own allegations for the basis of detention, or that they knowingly released individuals they believed to be dangerous.