The U.S. government has transferred five more Guantanamo Bay detainees , shrinking the number to 127 . The detainees , two Yemeni and three Tunisians , were repatriated to Kazakhstan , after the Guantanamo Review Task Force said it determined the men did not pose security threats . The Defense Department identified the men as Asim Thabit Abdullah Al-Khalaqi , Muhammad Ali Husayn Khanayna , Sabri Muhammad Ibrahim Al Qurashi , Adel Al-Hakeemy , and Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Lufti . The move advances President Barack Obama 's goal of drawing down the number of those held at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba , something that has been ongoing for years . The departures of the five men means that 127 people are still detained at Guantanamo . This is down significantly from the numbers soon after the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks , when the facility widely known as Gitmo was repurposed to hold detainees from the `` war on terror . '' The administration of then-President George W. Bush claimed that , since Gitmo detainees were n't held on American soil , they could be considered `` enemy combatants '' and be denied some legal protections . Almost all of the nearly 800 detainees were held without charges . This legal limbo , as well as allegations of torture and other mistreatment , spurred criticism of Gitmo . Shortly after his 2009 inauguration , President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close the detention facility within a year . That did n't happen . One reason was because of strong opposition from lawmakers , many of them Republicans , who cited the risk of freeing men who had fought to kill Americans . About 17 % of the 620 Gitmo detainees released -- most of them during Bush 's presidency -- went on to engage in terrorist activities , a September semiannual report from the director of national intelligence found . Another 12 % are suspected of having engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities .
Two Yemenis and three Tunisians transferred . Guantanamo Bay has held nearly 800 detainees .