| Submit your comments on this article | ||
| Home Front: WoT | ||
| Court mulls early release of Uighurs from Gitmo | ||
| 2008-11-24 | ||
| A federal appeals court expressed skepticism Monday about a judge's order releasing 17 Turkic Muslims from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into the United States. During oral arguments, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit indicated that a federal judge might have acted too quickly last month in ordering the immediate release of the 17 men, known as Uighurs (WEE'-gurz). The three judges suggested that the detainees might need to formally apply to enter the country via the Homeland Security Department, which administers U.S. immigration laws. "Before they can be admitted into this country, there are immigration statutes to be addressed and petitioners haven't pursued that yet," said Judge Judith W. Rogers, who previously expressed support for the Uighurs' immediate release. Immigration Clerk: Name? Terrorist: Achmed. IC: How long will you be staying? T: Not long. IC: Purpose of visit? T: Terrorism. IC: Any fruits or vegetable or contraband animals? T: No. IC: Wait in the line to your right. T: I KEEL You! IC: Next. Solicitor General Gregory Garre told the court that releasing the detainees into the U.S. was a matter for the president -- not the courts -- given questions of national security and diplomacy. The Muslims were cleared for release from Guantanamo as early as 2003 but fear they will be tortured if they are returned to China. "It's regrettable they are in this situation, but we are active in seeking another country to take them," Garre said. At issue in Monday's arguments is whether a federal judge has the authority to order the release of prisoners at Guantanamo who were unlawfully detained by the U.S. and cannot be sent back to their homeland. U.S. District Judge Richard Urbina last month ordered the government to release the 17 men into the United States, noting that they were no longer considered enemy combatants. Urbina sternly rebuked the Bush administration for a detention policy toward the Uighurs that "crossed the constitutional threshold into infinitum." The Bush administration quickly sued to block Urbina's order, citing security concerns over weapons training the Uighurs received at camps in Afghanistan. A divided D.C. Circuit court in late October agreed to temporarily halt the Uighurs' release so it could consider the government's full appeal. That same three-judge panel heard arguments Monday. The panel was composed of Rogers, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, and Karen Henderson and A. Raymond Randolph, both appointees of President George H.W. Bush. Roughly 20 percent of about 250 detainees who remain at Guantanamo fear torture or persecution if they return to their home countries, according to the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. The Bush administration has long maintained that, unless another country agrees to take them, the detainees should stay at Guantanamo.
Last week, a federal judge ordered the release of five Algerian men after rejecting government allegations that they were "enemy combatants." U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also urged the Justice Department not to appeal, saying the detainees had languished at Guantanamo long enough. | ||
| Posted by:ed |
| #5 Put them up in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House starting on 20 Jan 2009. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2008-11-24 16:12 |
| #4 Tiome off for good behavior. Happens all the time with dope dealers, murders, rapists and other perverts. Who's to say that terrorists should be treated equally? |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-11-24 14:11 |
| #3 At issue in Monday's arguments is whether a federal judge has the authority to order the release of prisoners at Guantanamo who were unlawfully detained by the U.S. and cannot be sent back to their homeland. There's the problem, right there. There is no determination that they were "unlawfully" detained. They were armed, on a battlefield, and not fighting for "our" side. Some jacka$$ Democratic, power-hungry (but I repeat myself) judge has "decided" they're being unlawfully detained, because they can't be shipped back to China, and there isn't any other country (including the US) that wants them. Maybe we should just slip them under the fence into Cuba when nobody's looking, and claim we don't have any idea what happened to them. Castro would probably welcome them. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-11-24 13:54 |
| #2 Slow boat to China. |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-11-24 13:53 |
| #1 you got too be kidding me that they would even be considered too be let into this country. |
| Posted by: chris 2008-11-24 12:59 |