case for defending the detention in any habeas litigation”.221 Since 2010, the number of detainees recommended for continued detention has fallen to 30.222 166. The Task Force Review, as well as subsequent reviews by the PRB, have designated for transfer or release 54 of the current 116 Guantánamo detainees. The majority of these detainees have been designated for transfer or release for over five years. Thirty-Eight of the detainees designated for transfer or release are from Yemen. To designate a detainee for transfer or release, the responsible US authorities must determine in particular that any threat the detainee posed to US national security can be mitigated and evaluate potential receiving countries.223 Yet, even though the US government believes that these individuals pose a threat to US national security that can be mitigated, these individuals remain in indefinite detention in Guantánamo,224 uncertain as to whether they will ever be released. Indefinite detention is a per se violation of the CAT.225 167. ODIHR further considers that the indefinite detention of individuals at Guantánamo has likely had an adverse effect on the health of the detainees and, moreover, constitutes illtreatment.226 In 2004, the ICRC had already pointed out that the uncertainty surrounding the length of detention and the lack of access to legal mechanisms was negatively affecting the detainees’ health.227 David Hicks, a former detainee, explained that “you did not know if you were going to be released, if you would ever be released, because they liked to have us believe that we would die there, that no one could intervene, that we were powerless, that no one, no organization or anyone, had the power to intervene and help us”.228 The Special Rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (hereinafter “the Special Rapporteur on torture”) explained that the indefinite detention of detainees without charge at Guantánamo caused physical and mental suffering, stress, fear, depression and anxiety and constituted arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.229 Similarly, the Inter- 221 Ibid., p. 8. As of 31 August 2015, the PRB has designated 11 detainees for transfer (two of them were transferred from Guantánamo), five detainees were transferred to Qatar in exchange for US Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, and two detainees died. One detainee, Awal Gul, reportedly died from a heart attack, and the other detainee, Inayatullah, reportedly committed suicide. 223 “Final Report”, Guantánamo Review Task Force, op. cit., note 84, p. 7: A third evaluation consisted of a “legal evaluation to ensure that any detainee falling outside the government’s lawful detention authority under the AUMF was recommended for transfer or release”. 224 This view is also supported by the IACHR, UN Working Group on arbitrary detention, UN Special Rapporteur on torture, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, and UN Special Rapporteur on health. “IACHR, UN Working Group on arbitrary detention, UN Rapporteur on torture, UN Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, and UN Rapporteur on health reiterate need to end the indefinite detention of individuals at Guantánamo Naval Base in light of current human rights crisis”, OHCHR website, op. cit., note 107. 225 UN CAT, Concluding observations on the combined third to fifth periodic reports of the United States of America, op. cit., note 107, para. 14. 226 “Statement of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture at the Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights”, OHCHR website, op. cit., note 108; “IACHR, UN Working Group on arbitrary detention, UN Rapporteur on torture, UN Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, and UN Rapporteur on health reiterate need to end the indefinite detention of individuals at Guantánamo Naval Base in light of current human rights crisis”, OHCHR website, op. cit., note 107. 227 “Guantanamo Bay: Overview of the ICRC’s work for internees”, ICRC website, 1 January 2004, <http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/5qrc5v.htm>. 228 ODIHR interview with David Hicks, 12 April 2014. David Hicks was transferred to Australia on May 18, 2007. 229 “Statement of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture at the Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights”, OHCHR website, op. cit., note 108; ODIHR interview with the Center for Victims of Torture, 25 February 2014: in most cases indefinite detention amounts to cruel, inhuman 222 68