UPDATED ON:
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
06:11 Mecca time, 03:11 GMT
 
News Americas
Guantanamo release angers Bush
The men come from China's Xinjiang
province [GALLO/GETTY]

A US judge has ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslim detainees from the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in what has been seen as a rebuke to the Bush administration.

US district judge Ricardo Urbina said there was no evidence the men were a security risk and that the US constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause.

Local Uighur residents and human rights activists cheered as he told a Washington courtroom the men, who have been in custody for almost seven years, should be freed.

The ruling is the first court-ordered release of Guantanamo detainees since the facility opened in 2002.

The Bush administration reacted with anger to the ruling, with a spokesman for the department of justice saying it presented "serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues".

The department said it would file an emergency request on Tuesday evening for a stay with the US court of appeals in Washington to halt the ruling.

If it loses, it has the option of appealing to the US Supreme Court, the highest in the country.

Lawyers 'thrilled'

Lawyers representing the men said they were "thrilled" with the decision.

"Justice has too long been delayed but ... we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision"

Sabin Willett, lawyer for some of the Uighur detainees

"Justice has too long been delayed but today we saw a great judge give a principled and just decision," Sabin Willett, a lawyer for some of the men, told Reuters news agency.

The Uighurs, from the Xinjiang province in western China, had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the US-led bombing campaign in the country that began in October 2001 after the September 11 attacks in the US.

They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the US.

The men have been cleared for release from Guantanamo since 2004 as they are no longer considered "enemy combatants", the official designation for those held in Guantanamo Bay, and would have been sent home.

However, the US has not been able to find a country willing to accept them.

Many Muslim Uighurs seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence, however China has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.

About 265 detainees are still held at Guantanamo, which was opened in 2002 to hold suspects captured during the US's so-called "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks.

Most have been held for years without being charged and some allege they have been abused or tortured.

 Source: Agencies
Feedback Number of comments : 24
 
Bob
Bermuda
09/10/2008
More propagada from the ministry of truth
a spokesman for the department of justice saying it presented "serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues". Is this a joke? Release of people who have committed no crime is not unprecedented, there are hundreds of years of legal precedent. Furthermore, its the notion that Bush can jail anyone he wants at any time that is the separation of powers concern, not a judge upholding the authority of the judiciary to overrule the president.

JungleGeoff
Papua New Guinea
08/10/2008
Guantanamo release angers Bush
For an article titled "Guantanamo release angers Bush" there doesn't seem to be much about how Bush was actually angry with this decision even if you assume that an unnamed spokesman for DoJ actually speaks for Bush.

tamer hosni
Canada
09/10/2008
strange democracy!
Americans think they are the number one democracy on this planet but the truth is that Guantanamo prove they aren't!

shenanigan
United States
09/10/2008
Guantanamo datainees
They are no reason for anybody to be held by Americans in any country without the rights to a speeded trial. Do not care who it is. Those who have watch Bush destroy Iraqi ,broke America and those who follow Bush also Broke them too unless they had Black Gold reserves under their ground. Bush has led the world to self destruction everyone who listen to him. See what you get from listen to a dumb AS* president who got his degree on account of his father ,Bush has played the world for a sucker

Adrian
United States
10/10/2008
Not Americans
Tamer from Canada, "Americans" don't think they are the number one democracy. "Arrogant American Politicians and Administrators" do. Don't Stereotype the people. We all have different beliefs

Zacharia Hedgcock
Saudi Arabia
10/10/2008
Chineese Detainees
They were in Afghanistan illegally. They certainly didn't apply for tourist visas. China should accept them into their penal system and put a stop to them being a burdon to American taxpayers.

Mike
Afghanistan
10/10/2008
What a Joke
"The Bush administration reacted with ...presented 'serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues' " If you translate this statement from its original meaning, it would read something like "Bush is disappointed his dictatorship on foreign citizens was blocked by his own legal courts" I wonder how much Guantanamo is costing the US government. I wonder if US citizens feel the cost is worth detaining just 265 people.

Katerina Andreou
United States
12/10/2008
Detainee Release Order
Once the detainees were cleared of charges, they should have been released. There is no reason why these men should be considered a "security risk." Bush is angry that he can't continue to control the courts, and that some justices do consider the rule of law and our Constitution more than political loyalty.

GWB
United States
13/10/2008
Guantanamo release angers Bush
Roger voting = huge joke in america. Don't think dictatorship and fake elections can come to Canada? Bush put in your boy Harper and did France the same way. Plenty of other countries too. Almost any place that turned conservative, nice and friendly over the last 8 years. True Adrian says "we all have diff beliefs" -sure, but only ppl in foreign nations made descent attempts on forcibly removing Herr Bush from office and the world. Americano's just too comfy for a revolution.

Roger
Canada
13/10/2008
The real reason?
I think that most people have accepted the fact that the insane imprisonment of these people have something to do with terrorism. I have never believed that a person dwelling in a cave could carry out such detailed attacks. Me thinks the oposite is true. A rounding up those who may have had a hand in the real deed sounds more realistic. Keep them isolated and hopefully, with missfortune prevailing those identified would then be silenced. It makes sense.

danny asuo
Afghanistan
13/10/2008
Guantanamo release
What are you talking about? This is justifiable anger, what were the Chinese doing in Afghanistan? Of course to kill in the name of religion. These are the people that have been giving my religion bad name, they should be locked up permenently and the keys thrown into the Atlantic ocean.

V.I.Len
United States
14/10/2008
Roger...you seem to think that we actually have democracy in this country or in any country for that matter...If we did your statement might be approaching accuracy....But it's not. Now stop the damn nationalist bashing(toward any nationality)and let's unite to destroy this farce, worldwide.

Fred
China
14/10/2008
Guantanamo
This release is an obvious challenge on China's one China policy. It is disgusting to see that people who have made Islam a religion of violence and terror be released.

Mary
United States
14/10/2008
Guantanamo Bay
Who knows the individual facts of the case, but because Guantanomo is said to have a bad reputation, maybe it should be just shut it down.

Andy
United States
15/10/2008
Roger!
Hold up do some reserch my friend.Bush was not voted in by the people in either term.I it was the corupt systtem not the people who put him in.All Gore and John Kerry both won the popular vote you know the one that the people cast.Have a beer a and chill-out!!!

Joe
Hong Kong
10/10/2008
Guantanamo release angers Bush. Guantanamo detention angers the World.

Randy
United States
10/10/2008
Guantanamo
Tamer Hosni of Canada... Please do not assume that ALL Americans think the same way. There are as many opinions here about our Government as there are worldwide. I absolutely LOVE my freedom and my country, but I must admit, I do not like our government at all!!

Cris
Australia
12/10/2008
Joe from Hong Kong
Joe, how succinct, bravo, well said. You've hit the nail on the head.

Roger
Canada
12/10/2008
Guantanamo angers Bush
Adrian. Nevertheless, it was you and your other U.S. citizens who put those people in power. We usually don't sterotype others but when the average U.S. citizen shows the I.Q. of a basket ball and votes Bush a second term. We have no choice. roger

Chuck Wood
United States
13/10/2008
Angers Bush?
I don't think the release of these detainees angers Bush, I think the administration is just concerned about where to send these guys. Of course, if he hadn't traveled around the world arresting people for no reason, this situation would not have presented itself. The U.S. Constitution has been turned into a joke by this ridiculous man.

Roger
Canada
14/10/2008
GWB
Well put. But alas, we all know this. Good luck to you all in November.

Khayyam
Australia
14/10/2008
released
they have not been released... headline is misleading...

Roger
Canada
14/10/2008
V.I.Len
Agreed. How can this be ccomplished? I've always encountered fierce determination from the puppet masters to squash anything resembling an outcry. How long have these poor souls been imprisoned without any meaningful help from the international community? Many spoken words but no action. The puppet masters may become angry.

Andy
United States
15/10/2008
Roger
Roger the people did not vote him in ,in either of the two elections he won.All Gore and John Kerry both one the popular vote you know the one that the people cast.So have a beer eyy and chill-out!!

 
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