The Department of Defense announced this week that three Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to a new facility following President Barack Obama's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which lifted the ban on removing prisoners from the Cuba military prison.
Three ethnic Uighur Chinese nationals were transferred from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Slovakia, where they will voluntarily settle. According to a statement from the Pentagon, the release of the prisoners was the result of a 2008 court order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Obama made closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay a top priority since he took office in 2009.
"I have repeatedly called upon the Congress to work with my Administration to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," Obama said in a recent White House statement. "The continued operation of the facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists."
While the newly passed National Defense Authorization Act does not shut down the prison, the lifted restrictions on detainee transfers is a victory for Obama. However, the legislation prohibits government funds from being used on the cost of the transfers.