WASHINGTON
Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday appointed a special envoy to oversee the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Lee Wolosky will lead diplomatic engagement with foreign countries for "arranging for the transfer of Guantanamo detainees abroad and for implementing transfer determinations, and overseeing the State Department’s participation in the periodic reviews of those detainees who are not approved for transfer," Kerry said.
Wolosky previously served as the National Security Council’s Director for Transnational Threats under presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.
Through an executive order in early 2009, President Barack Obama directed the Defense Department to gradually transfer detainees from Guantanamo so that the controversial prison could be closed.
Republicans have been unhappy with Obama's unilateral transfers of detainees from the facility, claiming some might go on to join terror groups.
A recent bill passed by the House of Representative calls for a revocation of Obama’s authority to unilaterally transfer detainees from the prison that was established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.
Claims of physical, mental and psychological abuse of prisoners have been issued against the U.S. since the detention center opened.
Of the nearly 800 detainees taken to the prison, 116 remain at Guantanamo Bay, according to the Defense Department.
