Guantanamo Bay Detainees Are Not A Security Risk And Must Be `'Released,' U.S. Judge Rules!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:13 am

Seventeen Chinese Muslims being held in Guantanamo Bay must be released, a U.S. judge has ruled.

There is no evidence the men were 'enemy combatants or even a security risk, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said.

The ruling came at a hearing to consider appeals by the 17, who are all members of the Uighur ethnic group, to be freed.

U.S. Constitution prohibits indefinite detention without cause, Judge Urbina concluded.

They should be brought to his Washington courtroom for a hearing on Friday, he said .

The Justice Department said it would file an emergency request for a
stay with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. If it loses there,
it has the option of appealing to the Supreme Court.

'Today's ruling presents serious national security and separation of
powers concerns and raises unprecedented legal issues,' Justice
Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said in a statement.

The ruling was a setback for the Bush administration, which argued that
federal judges do not have the authority to order the release into the
United States of the detainees.

The White House strongly disagreed with the court decision and said it could set a dangerous precedent.

'The district court's ruling, if allowed to stand, could be used as
precedent for other detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, including sworn
enemies of the United States suspected of planning the attacks of 9/11,
who may also seek release into our country,' White House spokeswoman
Dana Perino said.

Lawyers for the prisoners said the landmark ruling was the first time a
federal court had ever ordered the release into the United States of
any Guantanamo prisoners.

The Uighurs had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the
U.S.-led bombing campaign that began in October 2001. They fled into
the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed
them over to the United States.

They remain in the prison even though the U.S. military no longer
considers them 'enemy combatants'. The United States has been unable to
find a country willing to accept them.

In 2006, the United States allowed five Chinese Muslims released from
Guantanamo to seek asylum in Albania. The U.S. government has said it
cannot return the Uighurs to China because they would face persecution
there.

Many Muslim Uighurs, who are from Xinjiang in far western China, seek
greater autonomy for the region and some want independence. Beijing has
waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent
separatist activities.

There are about 265 detainees at Guantanamo, which was set up in
January 2002 to hold terrorism suspects captured after the Sept. 11
attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants. Most have been held
for years without being charged and many have complained of abuse.