Two Algerian citizens held at the naval base in Cuba are fighting a transfer to their homeland, people familiar with the situation say. The two men say they fear that Islamist extremists will try to recruit them and may attack or kill them when they discover the detainees don’t share their commitment to violence, these people say.

Robert Kirsch, a lawyer for one of the two, Belkacem Bensayah, said the U.S. government has ignored the protests of his client and another detainee, Djamel Ameziane. The planned repatriation is “the most callous, political abuse of these men,” Mr. Kirsch said…

Human-rights activists who have called to close Guantanamo said it was improper to transfer detainees against their will. “When you hear people say they would rather spend the rest of their lives in Guantanamo than go to a particular place, you have to take that seriously,” said Andrea Prasow, a counterterrorism counsel with Human Rights Watch.