The US transferred six detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison to Uruguay over the weekend.  It’s the largest group of prisoners to be released from the terrorist prison since 2009, and the first batch of detainees to be sent to South America.

One of the former prisoners is Ahmed Mujstafa Diyab, a Syrian who has been held for twelve years without a trial, and who has gone on prolonged hunger strikes.  His release seems to moot his lawsuit against the US government for force-feeding him during those times he refused food. 

The rest of the group is made up of three more Syrians, a Palestinian, and a Tunisian.  Each had been detained for twelve years for alleged ties to al Qaeda.  Uruguay’s outgoing President Jose Mujica agreed to take the men as a humanitarian gesture. 

“The United States is grateful to the Government of Uruguay for its willingness to support ongoing US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Candidate Barack Obama promised to close “Gitmo” in the 2008 campaign, but as US President, he has run into opposition from the military and the congressional opposition.  The US opened a prison on the grounds of the base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a place to detain enemy combatants in America’s war on terror.