In Yemen, waiting for Guantanamo

Guantanamo Bay Prison's first detainees arrived at the facility on Jan. 11, 2002, exactly five months after the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington. 

Since then, nearly 800 prisoners have have been held there, and 572 released. Of the 164 men still held at Guantanamo, 88 are Yemenis. 

Thirty-six Yemeni nationals were cleared for release both by the administration of George W. Bush and more recently by President Barack Obama's Guantanmo Task Force. Dozens more are still held in "conditional detention," where they will only be set free once the security situation in Yemen — which currently hosts Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — improves. 

Across Yemen, mothers and fathers say they have had little to no communication with their sons being held at the prison. 

Over the years, as their once once young boys transformed into men, they were allowed only the occasional monitored phone call or edited letter. 

It remains unclear when they might be released, or if the controversial detention facility will ever be closed. 

While the debate over their fate drags on in Washington, the prisoners' families await their return.

These photos were taken in Ibb, Mukalla, Sana'a and Taiz.