Seventeen Chinese Muslims unlawfully held in Guantánamo are still awaiting news of their fate after U.S. Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina deemed them innocent and ordered their release and delivery into the continental United States in October. The men were captured in weapons training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001. However, they were apparently training to fight the Communist government of China, and considered the United States to be an ally, not an enemy. Although the U.S. has conceded that it no longer considers the prisoners unlawful enemy combatants, the Bush administration blocked the judge’s ruling, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been urging Congress to create legislation that would block any Guantánamo detainees, even those deemed innocent, from setting foot in the U.S. The 17 Uighur Muslims from China’s central Asian Xinjiang province have been isolated in Camp Iguana, and given amenities like a 42-inch plasma T.V. and access to a library of soccer and religious videos. The prisoners’ dilemma crystallizes the difficulty that the incoming administration will have in finding sanctuaries for the current denizens of Guantánamo, which Barack Obama has promised to close. Albania granted asylum to five Uighurs in 2006, but is unwilling to accept more prisoners. The various European nations who have expressed possible interest in offering asylum have been intimidated by China’s statement that, “The Chinese government has always urged that these prisoners be repatriated back to China. We oppose any countries taking these prisoners.” China claims that the 17 men are members of the nationalist East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which the U.S. classified as a terrorist organization in 2002. 

 

Uncertainty Shrouds Fate of 17 unusual detainees – Guantanamo (by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald)

China Calls for Return of Guantanamo Bay Inmates (Associated Press)

Dusty Relics of Yalta (by Sidik haji Rozi, Washington Times)

Judge orders release to U.S. of 17 detainees ( by Marisa Taylor, McClatchy)

Uughur Captives in Guantánamo (Wikipedia)