The U.S. admiral in charge of the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba has been fired “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement on Sunday.
Rear Admiral John Ring was removed from the post on Saturday, the brief statement said, without giving details about why.
Jose Ruiz, a spokesman for Southern Command, which oversees Guantanamo, told Reuters the decision was the result of a monthlong investigation completed earlier in April, but declined to provide specifics.
The firing was first reported by The New York Times.
Ring had led Guantanamo since April 2018. General John Hussey, formerly the center’s deputy commander, will now lead it in an acting capacity, the statement said.
“This change in leadership will not interrupt the safe, humane, legal care and custody provided to the detainee population at GTMO,” Southern Command said in its statement.
The Guantanamo detention center, opened by Republican President George W. Bush to hold terrorism suspects captured overseas after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, has become a byword for harsh detention practices that have opened the United States to accusations of torture.
President Barack Obama shrank its population while in office but failed to completely close the center as he had once promised. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2018 to keep the center open, and has discussed adding to its population. Since May 2018, Guantanamo has housed 40 prisoners.
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BREAKING NEWS: The prison commander got the word Saturday at a meeting at Southcom headquarters in South Florida. https://t.co/ERIF7uBlwa
— Carol Rosenberg (@carolrosenberg) April 28, 2019
The US admiral in charge of the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba has been fired “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” US Southern Command said in a statement on Sunday https://t.co/UPSWZxyOji pic.twitter.com/wLVuGPQLFJ
— Arab News (@arabnews) April 28, 2019
Rear Adm. John C. Ring, the commander of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, has been fired following an investigation, the U.S. Southern Command said on Sunday https://t.co/Sqf3ORLniv
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 28, 2019
NEW TODAY: Guantanamo Bay Admiral Fired Due to Loss of Confidence https://t.co/520qBZjpTy via @Militarydotcom
— Hope Hodge Seck (@HopeSeck) April 28, 2019
JTF GTMO commander is fired days after he stated that the inadequate medical care at #Guantanamo placed him at odds with his obligations under the Geneva Conventions. There’s a statutory bar on transferring detainees to US even for emergency medical care. https://t.co/lD40U4dbtD
— Patricia Stottlemyer (@p_stottlemyer) April 28, 2019
Guantánamo Bay Prison Commander Has Been Fired – The New York Times https://t.co/8LknpGantF
— newslink7.com (@newslink7com) April 28, 2019
The commander of the prison at Guantánamo Bay has been fired, @carolrosenberg reports https://t.co/glHeBZPcn6
— Cassandra Vinograd (@CassVinograd) April 28, 2019
Guantanamo Bay prison commander fired after investigation https://t.co/hn4yIWsiL7 pic.twitter.com/6juRJIiM6H
— The Hill (@thehill) April 28, 2019
“This change in leadership will not interrupt the safe, humane, legal care and custody provided to the detainee population at GTMO,” officials said in a statement.
Lol.https://t.co/06xgnfiQqI— Casandra (@Casandra_aqui) April 28, 2019
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