The 26 included 23 Afghans and three Pakistanis, the Pentagon said in a statement. Last week the US Government released five British prisoners from the detention centre, and a total of about 100 have been let go or transferred to other governments in recent months. The five released to the British Government were later set free by London police. Two weeks ago, seven Russians held at Guantanamo Bay were turned over to the Russian Government. In February a Danish and a Spanish detainee were released, and in January three juvenile detainees of undisclosed nationality were released. The juveniles had been captured in Afghanistan. There are more than 600 inmates from some 40 countries at the Guantanamo Bay facility, which was built to house people captured by US and other forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan during and after the Afghan war in 2001. Human rights groups have criticised the treatment of the prisoners as well as their lack of access to lawyers.
