Debate Rages Over Those Still At Guantanamo

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In The Media

Debate Rages Over Those Still At Guantanamo

If President-elect Obama closes Guantanamo, as he pledged to on the campaign trail, the administration will have to figure out what to do with the remaining detainees. One option is a rehabilitation program modeled on a successful Saudi initiative that includes intensive counseling sessions, help finding employment, and, crucially, religious dialogue with imams.

By Christopher Boucek

Published on Nov 20, 2008

Source: NPR

If President-elect Obama closes Guantanamo, as he pledged to on the campaign trail, the administration will have to figure out what to do with the remaining detainees. Forty percent of Guantanamo prisoners are Yemeni, and diplomatic discussions between the United States and Yemen about what to do with detainees who do not pose a risk failed to produce an agreement. Christopher Boucek spoke with NPR’s Jackie Northam about the merits of a rehabilitation program modeled on a successful Saudi initiative.

Nearly 3,000 people have gone through Saudi Arabia’s four-year rehabilitation program, including former Guantanamo detainees. The program includes intensive counseling sessions, help finding employment, and, crucially, religious dialogue with imams who engage former militants in discussions of sharia and the Quran. Only two percent of program graduates relapse, but Boucek noted that the low re-arrest rate reflects the fact that the program focuses on low to mid-level operatives, not senior militants.

Click here to listen to the full broadcast.

About the Author

Christopher Boucek

Former Associate, Middle East Program

Boucek was an associate in the Carnegie Middle East Program where his research focused on security challenges in the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa.

Recent Work

Q&A
Yemen After Saleh’s Return and Awlaki’s Exit
- Christopher Boucek
Q&A
Rivals—Iran vs. Saudi Arabia
- Christopher Boucek, Karim Sadjadpour

Political Reform Security Military Foreign Policy Saudi Arabia Yemen

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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