Washington, May 4 (RHC)-- The Pentagon has transferred longtime Guantánamo Bay prisoner Ahmed Mohammed al-Darbi to Saudi Arabia, in the first such move under the Donald Trump administration. 

Al-Darbi is the only prisoner who’s pleaded guilty in the military commissions at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo, located on illegally-occupied Cuban territory.  In a statement, the Center for Constitutional Rights -- which represents many of Guantánamo’s prisoners -- said it was relieved over al-Darbi’s transfer, but added: “His transfer came at great cost -- over 12 years in Guantánamo -- and he is not yet free.  And, much as we would like to hope it signals further positive movement from this administration, there is no such indication.  Forty Muslim men remain imprisoned in an entrenched prison system that was set up to evade just laws and experiment on human beings, and that system continues.” 

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to expand the prison at Guantánamo, and said he would “load it up with some bad dudes.” Wednesday’s release of al-Darbi came as the Pentagon said it is formally set to receive new prisoners at Guantánamo for an indefinite term.