Which Guantánamo detainee cases have led to convictions or plea deals since 2017 and what are the court records?
Executive summary
Since 2017 only a small number of Guantánamo cases have resulted in new convictions or plea deals: the most prominent was Majid Khan’s plea and transfer in 2023, a set of high-profile 9/11 plea agreements were negotiated in 2023–2024 but later contested or revoked by the Defense Secretary, and at least two “high‑value” detainees from Guantánamo were returned to Malaysia under plea‑deal arrangements in late 2024; primary docket materials and selected opinions are available via the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and military commission case pages [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Recent convictions and plea bargains — the narrow list
Public reporting and advocacy compilations agree that very few Guantánamo detainees have been convicted or accepted plea deals in the last decade and that convictions overall remain rare: analytical compilations put the total number of convictions secured across the military commissions much lower than the total detainee population, and note that many earlier convictions were overturned on appeal or reduced (Andy Worthington tracking of military commissions) [1].
2. Majid Khan: the clearest post‑2017 plea case and its record
Majid Khan’s case is the clearest example after 2017: he accepted a plea deal that culminated in his release in 2023 and his public statement about torture and CIA detention factored into prosecutorial assessments about the viability of other cases, and reporting notes that his plea and release influenced prosecutorial strategy in the 9/11 cases [1]. The district and commission dockets host redacted filings and orders for Khan’s habeas and related civil materials; interested readers are directed to the D.C. District Court Guantánamo pages for available public filings [4] [5].
3. The 9/11 defendants: negotiated guilty pleas, then institutional pushback
In 2023–2024 defense and prosecution negotiated plea agreements with several defendants charged in the 9/11 military‑commission cases that would have removed the death penalty and produced guilty pleas, but those agreements were met with immediate institutional resistance: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revoked the convening authority’s authorization for those plea deals in August 2023, and news and legal analysis have documented ongoing disputes between prosecutors, defense counsel, and the Pentagon about whether and how to finalize plea dispositions [2] [6]. The public reporting shows plea negotiation occurred but that authorization and implementation of those pleas remain contested and subject to additional orders and higher‑level review [2] [6].
4. Other negotiated resolutions since 2017 — releases tied to plea frameworks
Reporting and activist trackers note additional plea‑linked outcomes after 2017 beyond Khan and the 9/11 docket: in December 2024 two Malaysian “high‑value” detainees were reportedly freed and returned to Malaysia under plea‑deal frameworks and rehabilitation agreements, and other negotiated transfers or plea‑adjacent dispositions have occurred sporadically as part of resettlements and transfer diplomacy [3]. Advocacy groups and independent trackers list individual detainees whose cases ended in pleas or plea‑adjacent resolutions, but those sources also show that many detainee cases remain uncharged, indefinitely detained, or subject to ongoing litigation [3] [7].
5. Where the court records are and the limits of public material
The most authoritative public repository for Guantánamo‑related federal habeas and related filings remains the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s Guantánamo cases portal and the court’s opinions pages, which host redacted orders and select docket entries; military commission records are more fragmented and often include classified or redacted materials, so readers seeking original court filings should consult the D.C. court Guantánamo index and individual commission dockets while noting significant redactions and classification [4] [5]. Media and monitoring organizations provide contemporaneous reporting and compilations of plea deals and convictions, but those secondary sources also document that multiple earlier convictions were overturned on appeal and that many proposed plea agreements have been reversed or remain in limbo [1] [6] [2].
6. Bottom line and reporting gaps
The factual record since 2017 shows a handful of plea deals and a single notable post‑2017 release tied to a plea (Majid Khan in 2023), several high‑profile negotiated pleas for 9/11 defendants that were later disputed by senior Pentagon officials, and other plea‑linked transfers such as the December 2024 Malaysian returns; full court records exist for many habeas and commission matters but are often redacted or partly classified, and the available public materials compiled by the D.C. court, human‑rights monitors, and independent trackers are the best sources for verified documents [1] [2] [3] [4].