Families of 9/11 victims confront decades-long limbo of Guantanamo detainees

Twenty-five years after September 11, families of the dead still seek accountability for the attackers still held at Guantanamo Bay. Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband died in the South Tower, says the prolonged detention without trial robs them of justice. A military judge has finally scheduled a trial for the remaining high-value suspects, including Walid bin Attash, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, but the hearing is set for June 2028 and may face further delays.

Guantanamo, once a temporary facility for al-Qaeda and Taliban captives, now retains the 15 most dangerous detainees, many of whom are under indefinite law-of-war detention. The use of evidence from CIA black-site torture has complicated the tribunal’s ability to reach verdicts. Critics warn that the detainees may spend their lives in prison without ever being formally tried, leaving victims’ families without the answers they seek.