Remember the Uighurs? Captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, they have spent the last seven years in Guantanamo, despite being completely cleared twice by a kangaroo court. But the US has refused to release them, on the basis that they face a severe risk of torture and persecution in repatriated to China. So instead, they've spent the last six years in prison, as if they were criminals.
Now, a US judge has finally decided that this imprisonment of the innocent is intolerable, and ordered these 17 men released. Inside the United States:
A US judge has ordered that 17 Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay be released into the United States.The Bush Administration is livid - as are the Chinese. But the rest of us should be celebrating that justice has finally prevailed. After imprisoning these innocent men for seven years, the least the US owes them is refugee status.In a landmark ruling, US District Judge Ricardo Urbina said Washington could not detain the 17 because they were no longer considered enemy combatants.
