US Judge Orders Release of Chinese Muslims

9.10.08

US District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslim(Uighurs) men who have been detained for almost 7 years at the US detention in Guantánamo Bay.

The ruling, the first court ordered release since Guantánamo opened in 2002, amounts to a slap in the face and Bush is said to be furious with the ruling according to an Al-Jazeera report.

Judge Urbina said that the US constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause and his ruling argues that there is no credible evidence to prove the 17 Uighurs are a security risk.

Already, the US Justice Department is moving to stay the ruling by appealing to the US Court of Appeals in Washington. Al-Jazeera points out that if the Bush administration loses they can appeal to the US Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

China is also not happy with Judge Urbina's ruling. The Chinese government considers the men terrorists even though the US no longer deems them "enemy combatants".

The 17 men were handed to the US by Pakistan after they fled there from Afghanistan in 2001.

China will want to see the Urbina ruling overturned so as to lend credibilty to its oppression of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang province.

If the ruling stands the question will be where to settle the 17 men. Judge Urbina has ordered a hearing next week to decide where they should be resettled.

If the US decides to hand the men over to China they will no doubt be placed into severe jeopardy. As of this writing, the Uighur community in the D.C. area are offering to take the men until their resettlement is finalized.

Ridwan Laher

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