Chapter 5 Towards the Closure of Guantanamo: International Legal Obligations | 117 with regard to the Transfer or Release of Detainees were repatriated to Algeria on August 28, 2013, were transferred through the certification process itself. 283. The NDAA for fiscal year 2014 eased these rigid restrictions and gave the administration greater flexibility in accelerating the transfer process. According to Section 1035, detainees can be transferred through three mechanisms: following a review by a PRB; pursuant to a court order; and, for all other transfers, the Secretary of Defense must determine, considering a number of factors, that action has been taken or will be taken to mitigate the risk of a detainee reengaging in terrorist activity, and that the transfer is in the national security interest of the United States. Therefore, the law gives the Secretary of Defense the authority to finalize the transfer of prisoners. The 30-day notification requirement was maintained. 284. The NDAA for fiscal year 2014 eliminated the onerous certification requirements imposed in 2011, a change that was preserved in the NDAA for fiscal year 2015. However, it did not eliminate the other two restrictions (prohibition on the transfer of detainees to the United States and on the use of funds to construct or modify U.S. prisons to house detainees from Guantanamo). A provision on temporary transfer of detainees to the United States for emergency or critical medical treatment was not adopted. The improvements introduced in the NDAA, together with other factors such as the pressure generated by the 2013 mass hunger strike, had an impact on the number of transfers. In 2014, 28 detainees were repatriated or resettled in third countries versus 15 transferred in the previous three years. 285. Transfers depend not only on statutory requirements; they also have a significant political dimension. The factors to be considered by the Secretary of Defense in making a transfer determination, such as the assurances provided by the receiving country to mitigate the risk of the individual engaging in any hostile activity that threatens the United States, are negotiated on a bilateral basis. Therefore, the transfer of individuals from Guantanamo is and has historically been based on diplomatic relationships. The fact that the Western Europeans were released first, along with most of the Saudis and Pakistanis, illustrates this political aspect. 286. The Inter-American Commission notes that transfers are generally authorized subject to “appropriate security measures.” 346 Some requirements for transfer involve, in practice, that the receiving country monitors the detainee and/or restricts their travel for a period of time, generally two years after the release. In some cases, the transfer may involve the detention of the individual upon arrival or participation in a “rehabilitation program.” The Al Salam Rehabilitation Center set up by the Kuwaiti government is an example of such a program. It was created in 2009 within a high-security prison to receive Kuwaiti Guantanamo inmates. The program reportedly begins with a full-time residency and ends with “outpatient 346 Language used by the Periodic Review Board in http://www.prs.mil/ReviewInformation/FullReviewpage.aspx its final determinations. Available at: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR