WASHINGTON // A United States federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the release from Guantanamo Bay of 17 Muslim Uighurs from China who, by an order of a lower court, were set to be freed onto US soil today. In a blow to the Bush administration, Ricardo M Urbina, US District Court judge, ruled earlier in the week that the government could not continue holding the men because they are no longer considered "enemy combatants" and were long ago cleared for release. And he ordered them freed as early as today after an appearance in his courtroom. But the Bush administration appealed the decision, saying it could set a dangerous precedent for other detainees seeking release, including, in the words of Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, "sworn enemies" of the United States. Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the justice department, which filed an emergency motion for a stay, said the ruling presents "serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues". The department is challenging the right of a federal judge to order the prisoners' release.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted a temporary stay, until Oct 16. "The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the motion for stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion," read the court's order. Nury Turkel, past president of the Washington-based Uyghur American Association, which uses an alternative spelling for the ethnic group, called the stay disappointing. "I hope this is a temporary delay," he said. "They have been unfairly treated and kept in prison for seven years - for nothing, literally. I hope this will be resolved in the fastest, quickest way." In a dramatic move, Judge Urbina on Tuesday ordered the government to produce the Uighurs - including a 21-year-old native of Chad who reportedly tried to commit suicide multiple times while at Guantanamo - in his courtroom today. They then were set to be released into the temporary care of fellow Uighur families in the Washington area, in advance of a hearing to determine the conditions of their release, including where they might be settled permanently. Religious and community leaders in the Washington area and in Tallahassee, Florida, where there are sizeable Uighur populations, have offered settlement assistance. The Uighurs' release would mark the first time a court has ordered any prisoners freed from the detention centre at Guantanamo. And it could have far-reaching implications for dozens of others in detention there. In June, the US Supreme Court ruled that detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their confinement before a judge in a civilian court, which is known as habeas corpus, and many are doing so. Most of the Uighurs were cleared by the government for release four years ago, and the US has been seeking a place to resettle them - although not in this country - because they could be tortured if they are returned to China, as Beijing has requested. Albania agreed to take five other Uighurs in 2006, but, so far, no other country has been willing. The Chinese have accused the Uighurs, Turkic Muslims from Xinjiang province, of being part of a violent separatist movement. The Uighurs' detention at Guantanamo - along with the detention of hundreds of other prisoners of the "war on terror" - has long been contentious. The men say they left China to escape political persecution and were living in a camp in Afghanistan in 2001 when the US began its bombing campaign against the Taliban. According to Human Rights Watch, some of the men headed for the mountains and were led into Pakistan, only to be turned over to Pakistani authorities and later sold, allegedly for a bounty, to the United States. Mr Roehrkasse said the Uighurs have admitted to receiving weapons training in Afghanistan, and the US has linked them to the East Turkestan Islamist Movement, which it declared a terrorist organisation in 2002. The Uighurs deny being affiliated with that group. Two lawmakers in the US House of Representatives who have called for the Uighurs' release - Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, and William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts - say the Bush administration should apologise to the Uighurs and compensate them for their time in Guantanamo. eniedowski@thenational.ae
