Most of the transcripts were only identified by an
ISN in the lower right hand corner of each page. It was not until April 20, 2006, that the Department of Defense released an official list of the captives' names, ISNs and nationalities.[4]
On September 6, 2006,
United States PresidentGeorge W. Bush announced the transfer of fourteen "
high value detainees" from CIA custody to Guantanamo.[5] These fourteen men had their Tribunals in the spring of 2007, and their transcripts were released one at a time, shortly thereafter.
Because the press was not allowed to attend their Tribunals, their transcripts were verbatim—not summarized.[5][6] The press was barred in order to avoid revealing "national security" secrets. The
CIA director later acknowledged that several of these captives, including
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and
Abu Zubaydah had been subjected to the controversial technique known as "
waterboarding".
Six further captives have been transferred to Guantanamo since September 6, 2006. In theory, they too should have their enemy combatant status confirmed by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, but the DoD has not made public any plans to do so.
^David Frum (November 11, 2006).
"Gitmo Annotated".
National Review. Archived from
the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2007. Here in this shorter space, I want to focus on something else: the words of the detainees themselves, as posted in 53 .pdf volumes on a Department of Defense website.
^
abBryan Whitman (March 6, 2007).
"Annual Administrative Review Boards for Enemy Combatants Held at Guantanamo Attributable to Senior Defense Officials".
United States Department of Defense. Retrieved April 5, 2010. Today, we're also here to announce the commencement of additional Combatant Status Review Tribunals or CSRTs. On September 6, 2006, the president announced the transfer of 14 high-value detainees to DOD custody at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The next step for these detainees is to conduct a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, which is an administrative review to determine whether the detainee meets the criteria for designation as an enemy combatant.