The US government is hoping that Germany will accept nine Uighur Chinese currently being held at Guantanamo Bay. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke with the lawyer representing four of the men. She argues that they would integrate well into the already sizeable Uighur community in Germany. SPIEGEL ONLINE: After a request by the US government the German government is examining a possible repatriation of nine Uighur men currently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay to Germany. You just returned from the camp a few days ago and visited four of your clients who belong to this group. Can you describe your clients' current situation? Germany is being asked to accept nine Uighur Chinese men currently being held at Guantanamo Bay. Seema Saifee: The Uighurs are held in a facility known as "Camp Iguana," which is reserved for men who have been adjudged to be non-enemy combatants and who have been ordered released. Of all the camps at Guantanamo, Camp Iguana has the least restrictions. In Iguana, the Uighurs live and dine together; read books at picnic tables; wash their own laundry; and grow fruit and vegetables in a small garden. Camp Iguana, however, remains a military prison. SPIEGEL ONLINE: How do your clients feel about the current debate about them? Saifee: I spoke with my clients about the statements in the German media labeling them as dangerous. They were disheartened. US courts already ruled their detention unlawful. Federal judges found no evidence justifying their detention. The US government stated in open court there is no evidence they pose a security threat.
The US government is hoping that Germany will accept nine Uighur Chinese currently being held at Guantanamo Bay. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke with the lawyer representing four of the men. She argues that they would integrate well into the already sizeable Uighur community in Germany.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: After a request by the US government the German government is examining a possible repatriation of nine Uighur men currently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay to Germany. You just returned from the camp a few days ago and visited four of your clients who belong to this group. Can you describe your clients' current situation?
Germany is being asked to accept nine Uighur Chinese men currently being held at Guantanamo Bay. Seema Saifee: The Uighurs are held in a facility known as "Camp Iguana," which is reserved for men who have been adjudged to be non-enemy combatants and who have been ordered released. Of all the camps at Guantanamo, Camp Iguana has the least restrictions. In Iguana, the Uighurs live and dine together; read books at picnic tables; wash their own laundry; and grow fruit and vegetables in a small garden. Camp Iguana, however, remains a military prison.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: How do your clients feel about the current debate about them?
Saifee: I spoke with my clients about the statements in the German media labeling them as dangerous. They were disheartened. US courts already ruled their detention unlawful. Federal judges found no evidence justifying their detention. The US government stated in open court there is no evidence they pose a security threat.
Seventeen Guantanamo inmates of Uighur origin may soon be leaving Cuba for Palau after the remote Pacific island nation announced its willingness to take the detainees. The Uighurs, refused by Germany, will encounter "paradise" there, said one Palau representative. The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau has stepped in to help in the tricky question of where 17 Guantanamo inmates of Uighur origin are to go when the camp closes. The island nation of Palau: A new home for the Uighurs? In a statement released to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Palau President Johnson Toribiong said his country would be "honored and proud" to take the detainees as a "humanitarian gesture." Palau, he said, had "agreed to accommodate the United States of America's request" to "temporarily resettle" the detainees, "subject to periodic review." Toribiong said he had discussed the issue with Daniel Fried, the US diplomat who has been charged with the effort to resettle Guantanamo detainees, during his recent visit to Palau. Representatives of the Palau government will travel to Guantanamo to make preparations for the transfer of the inmates, Toribiong said.
Seventeen Guantanamo inmates of Uighur origin may soon be leaving Cuba for Palau after the remote Pacific island nation announced its willingness to take the detainees. The Uighurs, refused by Germany, will encounter "paradise" there, said one Palau representative.
The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau has stepped in to help in the tricky question of where 17 Guantanamo inmates of Uighur origin are to go when the camp closes.
The island nation of Palau: A new home for the Uighurs? In a statement released to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Palau President Johnson Toribiong said his country would be "honored and proud" to take the detainees as a "humanitarian gesture." Palau, he said, had "agreed to accommodate the United States of America's request" to "temporarily resettle" the detainees, "subject to periodic review."
Toribiong said he had discussed the issue with Daniel Fried, the US diplomat who has been charged with the effort to resettle Guantanamo detainees, during his recent visit to Palau. Representatives of the Palau government will travel to Guantanamo to make preparations for the transfer of the inmates, Toribiong said.
But the US needs to sort out its own mess and prolonging the detention is simply sick. If they can't release them, turn Gitmo into a luxury holiday camp. give them some recompense for the brutatlity of the Bush/cheney era, don't prolong it. keep to the Fen Causeway
The island nation of Palau: A new home for the Uighurs? In a statement released to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Palau President Johnson Toribiong said his country would be "honored and proud" to take the detainees as a "humanitarian gesture."
that's the first statement about these victims i've seen that had some heart.
my inner cynic wonders what sweetener the palauans are getting to be so noble, but it is so unutterably appalling to think of what's happened to these people, and the u.s. attitude that others clean up their mess really stinks too.
they should be expensively apologised to, not shuffled off to random points around the globe like asylum seeking refugees. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
