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Guantanamo Uighurs

Who Are the Six Uighurs Released From Guantanamo to Palau?

Andy Worthington | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: War on Terror, Afghanistan, Palau, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Pakistan, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Obama Administration, Taliban, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Guantanamo Uighurs, Qala-I-Janghi Massacre, Northern Alliance, Xinjiang Province, Guantanamo Bay, The Guantanamo Files, China, World News
Andy Worthington

I am drawing together here the stories of six men who, nearly eight years after their wrongful and mistaken capture, are finally free from Guantánamo, even if an uncertain future awaits them.

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Justice at Last? Guantanamo Uighurs Ask Supreme Court for Release Into U.S.

Andy Worthington | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, World, War on Terror, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Justice Department, US District Court, Boumediene v. Bush, Barack Obama, Uighurs, World News, Dick Cheney, Habeas Corpus, Politics News, Guantanamo Uighurs, Bermuda, Uighurs Bermuda, U.S. Court of Appeals, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Sabin Willett, Advocacy, Politics News
Andy Worthington

In briefs, the battle lines have been drawn. On the one hand is the government, endorsing Bush-era policies. And for the Uighurs, there is a Boston-based attorney and his team.

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75 Guantanamo Prisoners Cleared for Release; 31 Could Leave Today

Andy Worthington | Posted 10.05.2009 | Politics

Read More: President Obama, Guantanamo, Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, World News, Dick Cheney, Habeas Corpus, Politics News, US House of Representatives, Robert Gates, Fouad Al-Rabiah, Saudi Arabia, US Senate, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, Kuwait, Judge Gladys Kessler, Closing Guantanamo, Yemen, World, Guantanamo Detainees, Greg Craig, Guantanamo Task Force, Saudi Rehabilitation, Yemeni Detainees Guantanamo, Ayman Batarfi, US District Court, Justice Department, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Guantanamo Uighurs, U.S. Court of Appeals, Politics News
Andy Worthington

If the rationale for not releasing the Yemenis from Guantánamo was extended to the U.S. prison system, no prisoner would ever be released at the end of their sentence, because prison "might have radicalized" them.

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Guantanamo Envoy: U.S. Should Have Taken Cleared Prisoners; Some Should Never Have Been Held

Andy Worthington | Posted 11.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Daniel Fried, Congress, Bbc, World, War on Terror, Terrorism, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo Task Force, Special Envoy to Guantanamo, Guantanamo, Barack Obama, Uighurs, World News, Politics News, Guantanamo Uighurs, Bermuda, Uighurs Bermuda, Guantanamo Bay, Breaking Politics News, Europe, Closing Guantanamo, Politics News
Andy Worthington

To my mind, President Obama missed a golden opportunity to bring 17 Uighur prisoners to the U.S. in his early days in office.

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A Plea to Barack Obama from the Guantanamo Uighurs

Andy Worthington | Posted 09.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, World, Judge Ricardo Urbina, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Justice Department, US District Court, Uighurs, Barack Obama, World News, Habeas Corpus, Politics News, Guantanamo Uighurs, Uighurs Bermuda, U.S. Court of Appeals, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Breaking Politics News, China, Politics News
Andy Worthington

Four months ago, 17 unjustly detained prisoners wrote a letter to Obama asking for their release. The government censors have only just cleared it and I have reprinted it here.

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Guantanamo As Hotel California: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave

Andy Worthington | Posted 09.03.2009 | Politics

Read More: Department of Defense, War on Terror, President Obama, Guantanamo, Fbi, Binyam Mohamed, Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, Detention Policy Task Force, World News, Habeas Corpus, Obama Detention Policy, Politics News, Sabir Lahmar, Umar Abdulayev, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Abdul Rahim Al-Ginco, Judge Gladys Kessler, Pentagon, Yemen, World, Terrorism, Guantanamo Detainees, Saudi Rehabilitation, Ayman Batarfi, Justice Department, US District Court, Barack Obama, Guantanamo Uighurs, Yasim Basardah, Cia, Torture, Politics News
Andy Worthington

Prisoners who do not face ill-treatment on return to their homelands are still held, no matter how many times their release is approved by various representatives of the U.S. government.

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Lawmakers Blast Obama For "No-Visit" Gitmo Policy

ABC News | Posted 08.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Pentagon, Guantanamo Uighurs, Department of Defense, White House, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Obama Administration, Obama, Uighurs, Gitmo, China, Senators, Politics News

A Pentagon official Thursday largely refused to answer lawmakers' questions about why members of Congress are prohibited from meeting with Guantanamo ...

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A Gitmo Tragedy: The Uighurs

Ginny Sloan | Posted 08.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Guantanamo, Guantanamo Uighurs, President Bush, Uighurs, President Obama, Detainees, Guantanamo Detainees, Politics News
Ginny Sloan

Of the many Guantanamo tragedies, perhaps none has been greater than our handling of the Uighurs, a group of Chinese Muslim detainees.

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My Trip to Guantanamo: It Must Be Closed

Rep. Jan Schakowsky | Posted 07.26.2009 | World

Read More: Guantanamo, Guantanamo Suicides, Guantanamo Uighurs, GuantáNamo Bay, Uyghurs, Gitmo, Guantanamo Detainees, World News
Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Decisions about placement of prisoners are made based on their level of compliance. It has nothing to do with alleged terrorist activities or crimes, since no one -- you got it -- no one has been convicted of anything.

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Getting Along with the Invaders: Bishkek Versus Kashgar

Alexander Davenport | Posted 07.25.2009 | World

Read More: Guantanamo Uighurs, Xinjiang Province, Guantanamo Detainees, China Human Rights, China, Uighurs, Kyrgyzstan, World News, Kyrgyzstan Russia, World News
Alexander Davenport

My experiences out West revealed the simmering race relations between the Han and Uighur peoples, which helps explain the necessity of sending Uighur detainees from Guantanamo to Palau and not back to China.

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No Confidence for Bermuda Premier on Uighurs

Kim Swan | Posted 07.19.2009 | World

Read More: Guantanamo Uighurs, Uighurs Bermuda, Bermuda, Bermuda Uighurs, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Ewart Brown No Confidence, Ewart Brown Uighur, Ewart Brown, Uighurs, Ewart Brown Guantanamo, Bermuda Parliament, World News
Kim Swan

Bermuda is a democracy much like yours, though ours has an English flavor. We believe our leaders, like yours, should follow the rule of law rather deciding on their own what the law should be.

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Closing Guantanamo: Bermuda Forgets To Consult UK Over Accepting Uighurs

McClatchy | Posted 07.13.2009 | World

Read More: Guantanamo Uighurs, Bermuda, Bermuda Uighurs, United Kingdom, Uighurs, Foreign Affairs, England, Advocacy, World News

As in Mother England. Thursday morning, Bermuda's premier, Ewart Brown, made the surprising announcement that four Uighur detainees from the American ...

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Who Are the Four Guantanamo Uighurs Sent to Bermuda?

Andy Worthington | Posted 07.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, War on Terror, Afghanistan, Palau, United Kingdom, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Abdul Semet, US District Court, Justice Department, Abdul Nasser, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Dick Cheney, Politics News, Politics, Bermuda, Guantanamo Uighurs, Judge A. Raymond Randolph, Guantanamo Bay, Huzaifa Parhat, Jalal Jalaladin, China, Closing Guantanamo, Politics News
Andy Worthington

The Uighurs should never have been held at all; the Pentagon was only interested in them because of the intelligence they might have provided about the activities of the Chinese government.

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Four Guantanamo Uighurs Released, Headed To Bermuda

AP | DEVLIN BARRETT and MATTHEW LEE | Posted 07.12.2009 | World

Read More: Gitmo Detainees Released, Guantanamo Detainees Released, Guantanamo Uighurs, Uighurs in Guantanamo, Uighurs Released, Uighurs, World News

WASHINGTON — Four Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay prison were freed Thursday and resettled in Bermuda, sparking complaints from China...

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Palau To Take Uighur Detainees

AP | RAY LILLEY | Posted 07.10.2009 | World

Read More: Chinese Detainees, Guantanamo Uighurs, Palau, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Pacific Islands, Obama Administration, Chinese Muslim Detainees, Uighurs, Palau Uighur, Uighur, World News

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The tropical Pacific island nation of Palau announced Wednesday it will accept up to 17 Chinese Muslims who have langu...

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From Guantanamo to the South Pacific: Is This a Joke?

Andy Worthington | Posted 07.10.2009 | World

Read More: War on Terror, World, Afghanistan, Palau, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, World News, Guantanamo Uighurs, Politics News, Albania, Judge A. Raymond Randolph, Guantanamo Bay, Breaking Politics News, China, Closing Guantanamo, World News
Andy Worthington

Could there be an answer to the Obama administration's Uighur problem?

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Free The Guantanamo Uighurs!

Andy Worthington | Posted 07.02.2009 | World

Read More: Supreme Court, US Supreme Court, Us Constitution, Judge Judith Rogers, War on Terror, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Supreme Court Guantanamo Detainees, Nimbyism, Justice Department, US District Court, Boumediene v. Bush, Eric Holder, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Habeas Corpus, Politics News, Politics, Guantanamo Uighurs, Judge A. Raymond Randolph, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, China, Elena Kagan, Advocacy, Closing Guantanamo, World News
Andy Worthington

Obama needs to find the courage to resist the shrill opportunism of some of his least principled colleagues, and to order the Uighurs' release into the United States.

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My Message To Obama: Great Speech, But No Military Commissions and No "Preventive Detention"

Andy Worthington | Posted 06.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Preventive Detention, US Supreme Court, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, War on Terror, Terrorism, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, CIA Torture, David Addington, Barack Obama, Habeas Corpus, Dick Cheney, Military Commissions, Politics, Guantanamo Uighurs, Bush Administration, Obama Guantanamo, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Breaking Politics News, Waterboarding, Closing Guantanamo, Torture, Politics News
Andy Worthington

Look at the sentence, "Hold[ing] individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war," replace "an act of war" with "any crime," and you will realize why the proposed policy is so terrifying.

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Guantanamo: A Prison Built On Lies

Andy Worthington | Posted 06.19.2009 | World

Read More: Guantanamo Evidence, Foreign Affairs, Abu Zubaydah, President Obama, Administrative Review Boards, Guantanamo, Fbi, Obama Administration, Taliban, Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, Habeas Corpus, Dick Cheney, Politics News, Politics, Enemy Combatants, Obama Guantanamo, Combatant Status Review Tribunals, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Mosaic Theory, Guantanamo Bay, Judge Gladys Kessler, Advocacy, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Pakistan, Guantanamo Detainees, David Addington, Yemeni Detainees Guantanamo, US District Court, Justice Department, Barack Obama, Osama Bin Laden, Military Commissions, Al Qaeda, Faisalabad, Guantanamo Uighurs, Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, Cuba, World News
Andy Worthington

It is difficult to see how much of the "evidence" against the Gitmo prisoners can be anything other than a tissue of lies extracted through torture, coercion, bribery and exploitation.

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Obama's Uighur Plan Poses Political Problems

Inter Press Service | William Fisher | Posted 06.04.2009 | World

Read More: Guantanamo Uighurs, Obama Guantanamo, Gitmo Uighurs, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Obama Gitmo, Democrats, Gitmo Detainees, Uighurs, Gitmo, Republicans, Uighur, World News

NEW YORK, May 4 (IPS) - The probability that some Guantanamo detainees will soon be released into the U.S. will place the administration of Preside...

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Obama's First 100 Days: A Start On Guantanamo, But Not Enough

Andy Worthington | Posted 06.04.2009 | World

Read More: Preventive Detention, Geneva Conventions, Pentagon Guantanamo, War on Terror, Algeria, President Obama, Guantanamo, Taliban, Binyam Mohamed, Omar Khadr, Eric Holder, Habeas Corpus, Obama Executive Orders, Dick Cheney, Politics, Libya, UN Convention Against Torture, Enemy Combatants, Robert Gates, Col. Patrick Parrish, Obama Guantanamo, Saudi Arabia, US Senate, Habeas Corpus Guantanamo, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, Col. James Pohl, Judge Reggie B. Walton, Closing Guantanamo, Pentagon, US Supreme Court, Tunisia, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Neal Katyal, Guantanamo Detainees, Susan Crawford, David Addington, Ayman Batarfi, Justice Department, US District Court, Boumediene v. Bush, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Al Qaeda, Military Commissions, Guantanamo Uighurs, Lawrence Wilkerson, Judge Richard Leon, Uzbekistan, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Obama First 100 Days, China, 100 Days, World News
Andy Worthington

Just Binyam Mohamed and the Yemeni doctor, Ayman Batarfi have been cleared for release. At this rate, of course, it will take decades to close Guantánamo.

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A Letter to Barack Obama from a Guantanamo Uighur

Andy Worthington | Posted 04.26.2009 | World

Read More: Politics, Abu Bakker Qassim, Guantanamo Uighurs, Terrorism, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Albania, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, Breaking Politics News, Uighurs, Barack Obama, World News
Andy Worthington

Mr. President, seventeen of my brothers remain in Guantánamo today. It is three years since I left the prison, and still they are there. Please end their suffering soon.

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How Cooking For The Taliban Gets You Life In Guantanamo

Andy Worthington | Posted 03.01.2009 | World

Read More: Supreme Court, Al-Qaeda, Congress, Ghaleb Al-Bihani, Abu Zubaydah, President Obama, Guantanamo, Taliban, Habeas Corpus, Politics, Enemy Combatants, Bosnia, Combatant Status Review Tribunals, Mohammed El-Gharani, Hisham Sliti, Closing Guantanamo, Belkacem Bensayah, Yemen, Tunisia, Judge Ricardo Urbina, Terrorism, Guantanamo Detainees, Salim Hamdan, US District Court, Justice Department, Barack Obama, Uighurs, Guantanamo Uighurs, Judge Richard Leon, Obama First 100 Days, Muaz Al-Alawi, Huzaifa Parhat, World News
Andy Worthington

Those of us who prefer justice to arbitrary and unaccountable detention without charge or trial were delighted when, last week, Barack Obama fulfilled...

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Obama's Decisive Break with Bush's "War on Terror" Policies

Andy Worthington | Posted 02.23.2009 | World

Read More: Geneva Conventions, CIA Secret Prisons, War on Terror, Ali Al-Marri, Presidential Orders, Terrorism, Army Field Manual, Authorization of Military Force, President Obama, Guantanamo Detainees, Guantanamo, CIA Torture, David Addington, Military Commissions Act, Obama's First 100 Days, Uighurs, Barack Obama, Dick Cheney, Military Commissions, Politics News, Politics, Guantanamo Uighurs, UN Convention Against Torture, Cia, US Enemy Combatant, President Bush, Obama Presidential Orders, Torture, Closing Guantanamo, Extraordinary Rendition, Gitmo, Obama Closing Guantanamo, Obama Executive Order, Obama Torture, Obama Guantanamo, Guantanamo Closure, Closure, Guantanamo Bay, Obama Detention, Obama Presidency, Obama Detention Policy, Obama Gitmo, 100 Days, World News
Andy Worthington

Obama's new Orders are a bold start, but more detail is required, dangerous loopholes must be shut off permanently, and other parts of the Bush administration's dark legacy need to be swiftly addressed.

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Closing Guantánamo Is Easier Than You Think, Mr. President

Shayana Kadidal | Posted 02.13.2009 | World

Read More: Preventive Detention, Yemen, Guantanamo Uighurs, Obama, Closing Guantanamo, Guantanamo, World News
Shayana Kadidal

Our new president should discard the last seven years of legal novelties in favor of the traditional model of detaining only those men who can and should be charged and tried for some criminal offense.

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