Federal Judge Rules Chinese Gitmo Detainees Can be Held Indefinitely

[TaleWgnDg]

Federal judge rules Chinese Gitmo detainees can be held indefinitely

Bernard Hibbitts, Jurist News, Thursday, December 22, 2005, at 7:39 PM ET

(JURIST NEWS) A federal judge ruled Thursday that two Chinese Uighur detainees held by the US at Guantanamo Bay could be detained there indefinitely even though their imprisonment was unlawful. US District Judge James Robertson said that the courts simply had no relief to offer the men, who are no longer deemed enemy combatants by the government (JURIST report) but who cannot be returned to China, where they could face death or torture because of their Muslim faith (Human Rights Watch report). Robertson said an order requiring their release inside the United States was not feasible for a variety of security and diplomatic reasons. Read Robertson's memorandum ruling (.pdf format, AdobeReader® required) and accompanying order (.pdf format, AdobeReader® required). AP has more. Robertson, who had previously been publicly critical of the Uighurs' continuing detention (JURIST report), made headlines earlier this week in another context when he resigned from on(sic) the 11-member Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) (JURIST report) after reportedly expressing concern about a program authorized by President Bush to conduct warrantless wiretaps on international communications by US residents with known links to al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.

. . . more at . . . http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/12/federal-judge-rules-chinese-gitmo.php
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[Rose Siding]

1. What a nightmare

Are China and the US the ONLY countries in the world :(

[TaleWgnDg]

3. Well, there's one other . . . his country of birth . . . but . . .

"(The Gitmo detainee,) Turkistani . . . an ethnic Uighur (pronounced wee-gurs) who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia . . . remains incarcerated because the United States simply does not know what to do with him. He does not have Saudi citizenship, and U.S. officials are having trouble getting his home country to take him back. U.S. officials do not want to send him to China, where Uighurs are seeking a separate homeland, saying he is likely to be tortured.

But unlike many detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Turkistani was not captured on the battlefield, nor was he a suspected terrorist. Instead, he was swept up in the confusion that marked the early days of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, and even as a potential ally found himself with no recourse to challenge his detention."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR2005121402125.html (by Josh White and Robin Wright, Washington Post Staff Writers, Thursday, December 15, 2005; Page A09)
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[Boojatta]

14. Various governments complain about Gitmo, but won't accept a detainee?

(The Gitmo detainee,) (...) who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia . . . remains incarcerated because the United States simply does not know what to do with him. He does not have Saudi citizenship, and U.S. officials are having trouble getting his home country to take him back. U.S. officials do not want to send him to China, where Uighurs are seeking a separate homeland, saying he is likely to be tortured.

Why can't they send him to some reasonably calm part of Afghanistan? If the government of Afghanistan expects US soldiers to risk their lives in Afghanistan and expects tax money from US taxpayers to be spent in Afghanistan, then shouldn't the government of Afghanistan accept at least a few refugees?

[Boojatta]

15. Is there a US embassy in Saudi Arabia?

Why can't the detainee live in the embassy and then venture out with television crews filming him and showing how he is treated by Saudi government officials?

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Woh

that part of where they face torture or death because of their Muslim faith is untrue.
China has a very large population of muslim. Go check info on china on religion.

But gee if they are suspected Terrorist and they cant prove their innocent in China they be shot.

[6th Borough]

5. Most likely an East Turkestan separatist (or thought to be so by the PRC)

Rarely does the media bother clarifying issues such as these (quite often, the journalist doesn't understand the complexities him/herself) in any news release intended for widespread consumption.

[Jim__]

4. Gitmo - a "policy" designed by the bush admin.

From the "no longert deemed ..." article: A Pentagon spokesman said the US makes it clear that it is unwilling to "return or extradite individuals to other countries where it believes that it is 'more likely than not' that they will be tortured or subject to persecution."

What do they think keeping them in prison is if it's not persecution? If the alternative is between possible torture or persecution and definite imprisonment here - I'll take my chances with the possible. Have they taken into account the desires of these innocent individuals that they happen to be holding in prison?

[UpInArms]

6. the only thing this mal-administration does really well is to F*** up

everyones lives.

:banghead:

[sabra]

7. Judge: 2 held illegally by U.S. (Judge James Robertson)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0512230321dec23,1,4022911.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Judge: 2 held illegally by U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal judge ruled Thursday that the continued detention of two ethnic Uighurs at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is "unlawful," but he decided he had no authority to order their release.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson criticized the detention of A'Del Abdu al-Hakim and Abu Baker Qassim.

The men have been jailed at Guantanamo for four years and have been cleared for release because the government has determined they are not enemy combatants and are not a threat to the United States.

But Robertson said his court has "no relief to offer" because the government has not found a country to accept the men and because he does not have authority to let them enter the United States.

[Roland99]

8. The US is creating a whole new type of refugee.

[seafan]

12. Is this the Judge Robertson who resigned from the FISA Court this week?

Looks like it.

snip

-On Monday, one of 10 FISA judges, federal Judge James Robertson, submitted his resignation -- in protest of the president's action, according to two sources familiar with his decision. He will maintain his position on the U.S. District Court here.

snip

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122102326.html

[madmark]

9. if they are not enemy combatants, how on earth can we still hold them?

[psychopomp]

10. It seems that the US government is responsible for helping

them build new lives, somewhere. "You break it, you buy it" seems to apply here. Four long years...I can't imagine...

[The Stranger]

11. He should order the government to put them right back where they got them.

As far as being tortured, the U.S. has already been torturing them. They can do no worse than being tortured, yet innocent, for the last 3 1/2 years.

[greiner3]

13. Parallel's Lincoln's;

'Man without a country.'

Happy Holidays anyway!

[Boojatta]

16. Is the Chinese government controlled by some kind of computer?

"cannot be returned to China, where they could face death or torture"

How about this: an explicit promise from the Chinese government that those two people will not face death, torture, or any kind of mistreatment from the Chinese government? If the promise is broken, then the US can temporarily stop, for a few years, immigration from China into the USA. Are we expected to believe that there aren't any politically influential people in China who have friends or relatives who want to move to the United States?