Yes. As of January 2026, 15 men are still held at the U.S. detention facility on the naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — the smallest population in the facility’s history. Roughly 780 people have passed through since the first detainees arrived in January 2002.1The New York Times. The Guantánamo Docket The remaining 15 include men awaiting trial before military commissions, two who have been convicted, three who have been cleared for transfer but not yet released, and three who have never been charged with any crime and are being held indefinitely under wartime authority.2Center for Constitutional Rights. Faces of Guantánamo
Who the 15 Men Are
The current population sorts into four legal categories.1The New York Times. The Guantánamo Docket
Charged and awaiting trial (7). Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Ramzi bin al-Shibh are accused of conspiring in the September 11 attacks. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is charged with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Encep Nurjaman, known as Hambali, is charged in connection with the 2002 Bali bombings and a 2003 hotel bombing in Jakarta.
Convicted (2). Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, an al-Qaeda propagandist, is serving a life sentence for conspiracy. Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi pleaded guilty in June 2022.
Cleared for transfer (3). Muieen Abd al-Sattar, a stateless Rohingya man, has been approved for transfer since 2010. Ismail Ali Faraj Ali Bakush is Libyan; Guled Hassan Duran is Somali. Each was recommended for release by a national security review panel, but release requires security arrangements with a country willing to receive them.
Held indefinitely without charge (3). Abu Zubaydah, Mustafa al-Jadid Mohammed, and Muhammad Rahim have never been charged, and none has been recommended for transfer.
How the Population Got This Low
The number has fallen unevenly. Under George W. Bush, about 533 detainees were repatriated or resettled. Barack Obama transferred roughly 197 more, leaving 41 when he left office.1The New York Times. The Guantánamo Docket During Donald Trump’s first term, a single detainee was transferred, to Saudi Arabia.3Georgetown University Bridge Initiative. Guantánamo Bay Data Project
The Biden administration repatriated 13 detainees and freed one. The largest single move happened on January 6, 2025, when 11 Yemeni men were flown to Oman, dropping the population from 26 to 15.4U.S. Department of Defense. Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Announced None of the 11 had ever been charged; they had been held roughly two decades. Return to Yemen was considered unviable because of the civil war there, and Oman agreed to receive them instead.5The Guardian. US Transfers 11 Yemeni Prisoners From Guantánamo to Oman No terrorism-related transfers to or from the facility have been publicly reported since.
The 9/11 Case
The most closely watched military commission case involves Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four co-defendants. All five were captured between 2002 and 2003, held in secret CIA custody, and moved to Guantánamo in September 2006. They face charges including conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, and terrorism, and the government is seeking the death penalty.6The New York Times. September 11 Trial at Guantánamo Bay
Pretrial litigation has run for well over a decade, weighed down by disputes over whether evidence tainted by CIA torture can be used. A January 2021 target trial date collapsed. In 2024, prosecutors and three of the defendants reached plea agreements: guilty pleas to all counts in exchange for life sentences rather than execution. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked those agreements. In November 2024, military judge Col. Matthew McCall ruled the pleas valid and ordered that they go into effect.7ACLU. Court Rules Signed Plea Agreements With Three of the 9/11 Defendants Are Valid and Must Go Into Effect Early 2026 commission filings show motions still pending on scheduling a plea hearing and on ongoing discovery disputes.8Military Commissions. Commissions News
Ramzi bin al-Shibh has been severed from the joint trial. A military medical panel diagnosed him in September 2023 with post-traumatic stress disorder with secondary psychosis linked to torture and prolonged solitary confinement in CIA custody, and a judge ruled him unfit to stand trial.9PBS NewsHour. Military Judge Rules 9/11 Defendant Unfit for Trial After Medical Panel Finds Torture Left Him Psychotic In January 2026, a judge rejected a government request to restart death-penalty proceedings against him, finding that the Pentagon official who sought resumption lacked a valid basis to do so.10The New York Times. Sept. 11 Defendant Decision
The USS Cole and Bali Cases
Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is charged with the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 American sailors. A previous military judge in the case was disqualified for unethical conduct, erasing more than two years of prosecution-favorable rulings. In 2023, a judge ruled that al-Nashiri’s 2007 confession to federal agents was inadmissible because he had been tortured.11The New York Times. Guantánamo USS Cole Trial Jury selection was scheduled for June 2026, which would make it the first death-penalty trial at Guantánamo, though defense lawyers have said they are not ready. Pretrial hearings continue to be scheduled into August 2026.12U.S. Department of Defense. Military Commissions Media Invitation – United States v. Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri
Encep Nurjaman faces charges of murder in violation of the law of war over the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people, and the 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.13Military Commissions. Referred Charges – United States v. Encep Nurjaman His case was referred to a commission in January 2021 and remains in pretrial, with hearings set for August 2026.14U.S. Department of Defense. Military Commissions Media Invitation – United States v. Encep Nurjaman
The Men Held Without Charge
Three detainees remain in indefinite law-of-war detention with no criminal charge filed and no transfer recommendation. The best-known is Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian born Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn. Captured in Pakistan in March 2002, he was the first detainee subjected to the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation” program: 83 waterboarding sessions, confinement in a coffin-sized box for more than 266 hours, and sleep deprivation lasting up to 180 hours.2Center for Constitutional Rights. Faces of Guantánamo The CIA later acknowledged that he was never a member of al-Qaeda and did not possess information about threats to the United States. He has now been held more than 23 years without charge.
In January 2025, UN-appointed human rights experts called for his immediate release and relocation to a safe third country, and requested a presidential pardon. They cited health problems tied to injuries from torture, inadequate medical care, and impediments to communication with his lawyers.15United Nations News. UN Experts Call for Release of Guantánamo Bay Detainee Abu Zubaydah
What Keeps Them There
The legal foundation for continued detention is the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed days after the September 11 attacks. The government treats the men as wartime captives under the law of armed conflict and holds that their detention is permitted for the duration of hostilities against al-Qaeda and associated forces. Critics argue that framework has stretched far past what the law of war was built for, particularly after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.16Just Security. What the U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan Could Mean for Guantánamo Detainees and the Due Process Clause
The Supreme Court has ruled twice on detainee rights. In 2004 it held that federal courts can hear challenges to Guantánamo detention. In 2008, Boumediene v. Bush held that detainees have a constitutional right to habeas corpus, the right to ask a court whether their imprisonment is lawful.17Al Jazeera. Timeline: 20 Years of Guantanamo Bay Prison Whether detainees also have Fifth Amendment due-process rights remains unresolved.
Since 2013, a parole-like body called the Periodic Review Board has reassessed whether each detainee’s continued detention is necessary for national security. It is the body that recommends men for transfer. As the three currently cleared men show, a recommendation does not produce a release on its own; a receiving country and negotiated security arrangements are still required.
Conditions
The population is aging, and outside observers describe serious medical and psychological consequences of prolonged detention. In 2023, UN Special Rapporteur Fionnuala Ní Aoláin conducted the first independent UN visit to the facility. Her report called current treatment “cruel, inhuman and degrading,” pointing to the absence of torture rehabilitation, continued shackling of detainees including those cleared for transfer, and a practice of referring to detainees by number rather than name.18PBS NewsHour. UN Report Criticizes Treatment of Inmates at Guantanamo Bay as Cruel and Inhuman U.S. officials have said detainees receive humane treatment consistent with domestic and international law, including communal living, specialized medical and psychiatric care, and access to legal counsel.
What It Costs
Operating the detention facility runs more than $540 million a year. With 15 men held, the estimated cost exceeds $30 million per detainee per year, a figure the government attributes to the remote location, the commission infrastructure, and the security around a small group of high-profile prisoners.1The New York Times. The Guantánamo Docket
A Separate Program at the Same Base
A different operation at the naval station should not be confused with the wartime detention facility. A January 2025 presidential memorandum directed the expansion of a “Migrant Operations Center” at Guantánamo to hold migrants facing deportation.19The White House. Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity President Trump initially spoke of 30,000 beds; internal documents indicate a capacity closer to 400. As of May 2026, six immigration detainees were held there, though 832 had cycled through in the prior year, and the effort is projected to cost the military $73 million. In December 2025, a federal judge issued a preliminary ruling in Luna Gutierrez v. Noem finding the detention effort “impermissibly punitive” and likely unlawful, without blocking the operation.20CBS News. Trump Guantanamo Bay Migrants The 15 wartime detainees discussed above are held under a separate legal authority and in a separate facility.