Ghana assures public of security of ex-Guantanamo detainees

A day after a court in Ghana ruled that arrival of two former Guantanamo prisoners in the country, was unconstitutional without parliament’s approval, the Ghana’s government reassured that two former prisoners living in the country remained under supervision.

Ghana’s Information Ministry said the government will comply with the Supreme Court ruling and seek approval for the Yemeni men’s continued stay. Parliament has three months to act.

The men “have been comporting themselves well since their arrival in Ghana,” the ministry said in a statement.

Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby were held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as enemy combatants, accused of training with al-Qaida and fighting with the Taliban.

They had been cleared for release in 2009, but the United States won’t send Guantanamo prisoners to Yemen because of instability there and officials had to find another country to accept them.

John Dramani Mahama, former Ghana President has said that the two Yemenis admitted into his country in January 2016 after a direct request by the U.S, pose a security threat.

Several religious and civil society groups in Ghana protested Mahama’s decision at the time. Last week’s ruling came after two citizens sued Ghana’s attorney general and interior minister, accusing the government of illegally bringing in the two former detainees.

At least four other former Guantanamo prisoners have been resettled to sub-Saharan Africa: two to Cape Verde and two to Senegal.