By Allan Olingo

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Kenyan Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu and Guled Hassan Duran from Somalia are set to be released by US authorities from Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.

The two have been held in the facility since 2006.

Bajabu was the only Kenyan captive held at the US Military base.

On Tuesday, the Periodic Review Board, a US agency established to determine whether detainees at the facility were guilty, announced the decisions in filings posted to its website.

The board is made up of senior US officials from the Departments of Defence, Homeland Security, Justice, and State; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Office of Director of National Intelligence.

The board announced the clearing of Mr Bajabu and Mr Duran, paving the way for their eventual release and transfer to second countries for rehabilitation.

Once a detainee is cleared for release, he cannot leave the prison until the US works out a diplomatic arrangement with another country for them to be released to.

Guled Hassan Duran, a Somali who has been at the prison since 2006, was also cleared by the board, according his attorney Shane Kadidal.

Mr Duran was captured in Djibouti and surrendered to the CIA in March 2004, before being moved to Guantánamo in September 2006.

Capture

In his board submission in 2008, Mr Duran said that he was seriously injured in a gun fight with gang members who were trying to steal his motorcycle in Mogadishu in December 2003. He alleges that he was captured on March 4, 2004 when he was transiting through Djibouti on his way to Sudan for surgery.

Mr Duran said that the FBI interrogated him shortly after he arrived in Guantanamo Bay, but he refused to answer any questions.

This week, the Biden administration cleared Guled for release from Guantánamo, making him the first so-called “high value” detainee previously held in secret CIA detention approved for transfer through the administrative Periodic Review Board process.

Mr Bajabu, also known as Abdul Jabbar, or Msela, was accused by the US of developing close ties with al Qaeda in East Africa and had relationships with senior members. He was also accused of participating in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002.

Of the 64 detainees who have received the Boards decisions, 38 have been cleared for transfer by the PRBs, and 26 detainees have been recommended for continued indefinite detention.

Thirty-six of the 38 detainees cleared for transfer by the PRBs have been released from Guantanamo to their home countries or third countries.

Life after detention

While at the Guantanamo detention facility, Mr Bajabu said he has learnt about farming and honey harvesting and was hoping to “run his farm” upon release.

“My family is still ready and willing to receive and support me upon release in my transition back to society,” he said in his 2017 submissions to the board.

“While in detention, I continue to read and learn about farming and honey harvesting. I am a hardworking man and confident I can run a farm and support my family upon release.”

Mr Bajabu indicated to the review board that he would like to be relocated to a Middle Eastern Arabic speaking country, where he hoped to reunite with his family and start a farm “near the city.”

“I am a peaceful man and bear no threat to the United States, or anyone. I am a moderate Muslim and do not believe in violence. My hope is to live in a peaceful environment, where I can rejoin my wife and children,” he said.

Accusations

According to the US, Mr Bajabu was inspired by a radical Imam to leave Kenya in 1999 to receive extremist training in Somalia, where he is said to have developed close relationship with al-Qaeda, including senior operational planners. He is accused of becoming al-Qaeda operator.

He was arrested by Kenyan authorities in 2007 for his role in executing the attack against Paradise Hotel and an Israeli airliner in Mombasa, in November 2002. He arrived at the detention facility in March 2007.

“Bajabu has remained highly compliant, and continues to be focused on securing transfer and reuniting with his family,” the unclassified documents by the board said. “However, he has offered little insights into his mindset. He has refrained from expressing support for extremist activity or anti-Us sentiments.”

According to his lawyers’ August 2021 submission to the board, Bajabu had become accustomed to various authors while in detention, and loved quotes from Mohandas Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King Junior.

“He has also learnt quotes from the Bible. Most of the quotes are from Psalms but he was particularly affected by a quote from Mathews 16:26,” his lawyer said.

Family

Mr Bajabu’s sisters live in Kenya while his wife and three children live in Somalia but were willing to move back to Kenya to be with him, should he be released, the Guantanamo documents show.

It also adds that the family has been living under the support of reprieves from Guantanamo project, which has supported them through the Covid-19 pandemic.