Chapter 5 Towards the Closure of Guantanamo: International Legal Obligations | 129 with regard to the Transfer or Release of Detainees patient rehabilitation.”388 The PRB refers to the Al Salam Rehabilitation Center run by the Kuwaiti government, described above. 389 320. The public perception of risk and how risk assessment is dealt with in the diplomatic field intensify the debate over closing Guantanamo. Dubious data about recidivism adds to this challenge. A Pentagon report released in January 2010 estimated that one-fifth of the detainees who had been released from Guantanamo Bay had resumed extremist activity. However, this report has been criticized by both sides of the issue. Some claimed that the Pentagon’s statistics are inflated. At least two people were reportedly placed on the Pentagon’s list for making statements critical of the United States. Others, however, have criticized the Pentagon for not including more names. 390 321. According to research conducted by Seton Hall University School of Law in 2012, the Department of Defense reportedly admitted that at least 14 of its 31 named recidivists were merely suspected; that its definition of recidivism has included engaging in propaganda and “other activities”; and that its criteria do not require any hostile acts toward the United States or U.S. interests. Further, the definition of recidivism expands the scope to include “insurgent” activities. In 2012, Todd Breasseale, Public Affairs Officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, admitted that official statements were deeply problematic by virtue of “conflating” the percentage of “confirmed” and “suspected” recidivists to create what he calls an “odd 27-28% number” of total recidivists. According to Mr. Breasseale, it is “odd” precisely because “[s]omeone on the ‘Suspected’ list could very possibly NOT be engaged in activities that are counter to our national security interests (emphasis in the original).”391 322. A study published by Human Rights First proposing an exit plan for Guantanamo asserts in this regard that “recidivism figures are estimated percentages of former Guantanamo detainees that may have taken some unlawful or derogatory actions associated with terrorist groups, but may not have directly participated in any terrorist plots or attacks, or otherwise posed a concrete and specific threat to the United States.” 392 388 389 390 391 392 Department of Defense, Office of Military Commissions, Unclassified Summary of Final Determination, Fouzi Khalid Agdullah Al Awda, July 14, 2014. Available at: http://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN232/140714_U_ISN232_FINAL_DETERMINATION_PUBLIC.pdf Department of Defense, Office of Military Commissions, Unclassified Summary of Final Determination, Faez Mohammed Ahmed Al-Kandari, July 14, 2014. Available at: http://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN552/140714_U_ISN552_FINAL_DETERMINATION_PUBLIC.pdf Los Angeles Times, More former Guantanamo detainees returning to militant activity, Pentagon says, January 7, 2010. Available at: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/07/nation/la-na-guantanamo-repeaters72010jan07 Seton Hall University School of Law, Center for Policy & Research, National Security Deserves Better: “Odd” recidivism numbers undermine the Guantanamo Policy Debate, March 23, 2012. Available at: http://law.shu.edu/ProgramsCenters/PublicIntGovServ/policyresearch/upload/National-Security-DeservesBetter-Odd-Recidivism-Numbers-Undermine-the-Guantanamo-Policy-Debate.pdf Human Rights First, Guantanamo: A Comprehensive Exit Strategy, Annex C, p. 28. Available at: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/uploads/pdfs/close-GTMO-july-2013.pdf Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR