The US Department of Defense Jan. 18 announced it had transferred six detainees out of Guantánamo Bay. The detainees, four of whom were sent to Iraq, one to Algeria, and one to Afghanistan, were found to be eligible for transfer after what the DoD called "a comprehensive series of review processes." About 245 detainees remain at the facility, with roughly 60 eligible for transfer or release. The Afghan who was transferred, named Bismullah, was cleared of enemy combatant status "based on new information." The other five retained the enemy combatant designation.

Last week, advisers to US President-elect Barack Obama said he plans to issue an executive order during his first week in office closing the Guantánamo Bay prison camp. An ongoing hunger strike at Guantánamo now involves 42 detainees. (Jurist, Jan. 18)

See our last post on Gitmo.