[JURIST] The US Department of Defense [official website] on Wednesday released the first official list of prisoners [PDF] held at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], including the names of people who were the earliest detainees at the detention facility. The Pentagon released the list of 558 detainees in response to a Freedom of Information Act [text; summary] lawsuit [JURIST report] filed in March by the Associated Press [media website] that had sought the release of records and identities of all Guantanamo detainees. The detainees came from 41 countries with the greatest numbers coming from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen. The military held Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) [DOD materials] proceedings for all 558 pursuant to the Supreme Court's ruling [JURIST report] that they must receive hearings, and all but 28 were classified as enemy combatants.

Previously, names of prisoners have been released [JURIST report] in transcripts of the CSRT hearings. However, the information was often incomplete or obfuscated by the bulk of the materials. AP has more.