[JURIST] The US government on Monday released [text, PDF] the names and nationalities of 46 men who are classified for “continued detention” at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST backgrounder] detention center, ineligible for release, transfer or prosecution. The names were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act [official website] request submitted by the Miami Herald [report] and the New York Times. In the 2010 Guantanamo Review Task Force [PDF] the US government explained continued detention:

48 detainees were unanimously approved for continued detention under the AUMF based on a finding that they pose a national security threat that could not be mitigated sufficiently at this time if they were to be transferred from U.S. custody. The Task Force concluded as to all of these detainees that prosecution is not feasible at this time in either federal court or the military commission system. At the Same time, the Task Force concluded that there is a lawful basis for continuing to detain these detainees under the AUMF.

Two Afghan detainees on the list, Awal Gul and Inayatullah, have died while being detained at Guantanamo.

Earlier this week President Barack Obama [official website] appointed [JURIST report] Clifford Sloan to be the new envoy in charge of closing Guantanamo Bay. The Pentagon Prosecutor at Guantanamo announced that only seven more captives are expected to be charged [Miami Herald report]> report] at Guantanamo. Last week the US Department of Defense [official website] announced that military commission charges [JURIST report] were filed against Iraqi prisoner And al-Hadi al-Iraqi for allegedly commanding al Qaeda. Earlier in June, the House Armed Services Committee approved the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) [HR 1960, PDF], which would keep the detention center at Guantanamo Bay open. In April the UN High Commission for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for US authorities to close down the Guantanamo prison [JURIST report].