President Trump has ordered the construction of a 30,000-bed facility to hold migrants at the notorious US naval facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as part of his mass deportation campaign. The US base has been used to house terrorism suspects since 2002, becoming synonymous with torture and unlawful imprisonment. The US has secretively detained refugees and migrants intercepted at sea at Guantánamo Bay for decades, but the facility has not previously been used for people apprehended on US soil or at this scale.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a video released on social media Jan. 28 she has been placed under investigation by the Prosecutor's Office over her government's surprise release of a Libyan national who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Italian police arrested Osama Najim, the head of the Tripoli government's Judicial Police, in the city of Turin nine days earlier. Najim, popularly known as "Almasri," serves as director of a network of detention centers where systematic abuse and human rights violations have been repeatedly documented in a reports by the UN Human Rights Council. Mediterranea Saving Humans NGO stated that the arrest "came after years of complaints and testimonies from victims, which were sent to the International Criminal Court." Yet Najim was released after just one day, and arrived at Tripoli International Airport on Jan. 21. Queried about the release, Italian authorities cited "procedural irregularities" in his arrest. However, media commentators have widely pointed to Rome's arrangements with Tripoli to block migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to reach Italy's shores.

With the sounds of war starting to fall silent in the Gaza Strip after 470 days of brutal Israeli military assault and siege, a tiny crack of hope has opened for the Palestinian residents of the enclave that they will be able to gather the shattered pieces of their lives and begin the daunting task of rebuilding. But whether the deal reached by Israel and Hamas on Jan. 15 will lead to a decisive end to the war remains entirely unclear.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on Jan. 6 the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison to Oman, marking a significant step in reducing the population of the detention facility. The DoD stated that the Periodic Review Board (PRB) "determined by consensus" that the detention of the Yemeni prisoners under the law of war was no longer necessary, as they did not continue to pose a significant national security threat. The DoD added that any potential risk from the prisoners could be adequately mitigated.

The Pentagon announced Dec. 30 that the US has repatriated Guantánamo prisoner Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi to Tunisia after more than two decades in detention. Al-Yazidi, identified as ISN-038, was transferred to Tunisia 11 months after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin informed Congress on Jan. 31, 2024 about the agreement reached for his return. His transfer followed a thorough interagency review process mandated by Executive Order 13492, issued in 2009. Of the 12 Tunisians who were detained at Guantánamo over the years, al-Yazidi, 59, was the only one still held there, with the others having been transferred to Tunisia or to third countries.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria (CoI) has called on the new authorities in Damascus to protect mass grave sites and relevant documentation. The statement released Dec. 20 comes after the CoI visited former prisons and detention centers in the country, including the notorious Sednaya prison and Military Intelligence Branch 235 facility. This was the first such visit since the conflict began in 2011.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced Dec. 11 the transfer of Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. According to DoD detainee profiles, bin Amin and bin Lep arrived at Guantanamo in September 2006. The US accused the individuals of planning attacks in California and facilitating terrorist operations in Southeast Asia. Both men pled guilty to several offenses.

The US government unsealed an indictment Dec. 9 charging two former high-ranking officials of Syrian Air Force Intelligence with war crimes. The indictment accuses Jamil Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud of cruel and inhuman treatment, including the torture of detainees, some of whom were US citizens, at the Mezzeh military airbase prison in Damascus. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The charges brought against Hassan and Mahmoud in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois are based on 18 USC §§ 2441(a) and (d)(1)(B), which prohibit war crimes, including acts of torture and cruel treatment of detainees.