SANA?A* Aug 11 ? Yemen has abandoned its citizens detained in the US military base in Guantanamo Bay* according to lawyer Mohammed Naji Allaw* Chairman of the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms* known as HOOD.The released detainees will be handed over to Saudi Arabia for psychological and professional rehabilitation. Giving a lecture at Saba Center for Strategic Studies on Monday* Allaw said Yemen had some of the first and loudest voices of opposition against Guantanamo. But* he said* the country later failed to successfully negotiate to be in charge of their rehabilitation. ?There have been* so far* many functions and demonstrations supporting Guantanamo detainees on Yemeni soil*" Allaw said. The government has mistreated Guantanamo detainees that have been released to its custody* he added. "These detainees also served various jail terms or were cracked down on without clear charges.? Allaw* and his organization HOOD has been the only Yemeni NGO that monitors the Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo.According to HOOD's records* most Yemeni inmates at Guantanamo have dual citizenships- Saudi and Yemeni. The lawyer* who added that security authorities exaggerated the mistreatment of those returnees and their relatives * pointing out that the government failed in its negotiations with the US about the rehabilitation of detainees following their release. He said that Yemeni negotiators demanded excessive funds from the US in exchange for receiving detainees and rehabilitating them. The Yemeni government* according to Allaw* has no clear plan for rehabilitating* released detainees. Allaw noted that the government didn?t provide a specific and integrated practical program for rehabilitation. ?The government didn?t even determine financial estimates for detainees? rehabilitation* which is why the American Committee of Advocates* in charge of the case* decided to hand over released Yemeni detainees to Saudi Arabia instead of their homeland*? he said. During the lecture* Allaw described the various stages of arresting more than 25*000 Muslims from various world countries in on terrorism charges. The victims were sent to many known and secret jails* including the one in Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay was opened on Jan. 11* 2002 for the purpose of detaining non-US citizens accused of belonging to Al-Quaeda* or otherwise working against US interests. The detention center was created as part of a series of post-Sept. 11 anti-terror laws that gave the former US president broad powers to detain suspected "terrorists" and throw them into notorious jails in Jordan* Egypt and Morocco*" Allaw Said.?Detainees in Guantanamo Bay numbered up to 750 multi-nationals* of whom 118 were Yemenis*? Allaw said* adding that US President Barak Obama is currently working to close the detention center. Concluding his lecture* Allaw said* ?Four Yemeni citizens will never be returned to Yemen or Saudi Arabia* as they have been charged with involvement in terrorists attacks."...

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