So who are these terrible terrorists who have landed on Ireland's shore and who are now being mollycoddled by the Irish authorities? (h/t Oui)

Guantánamo's refugees | Andy Worthington

Completing this brief guide to the cleared prisoners are the Uzbeks, whose government's human rights abuses are notorious: Shakrukh Hamiduva, just 18 years old at the time of his capture, who was working as a taxi driver in Afghanistan when he was seized by Afghan bounty hunters; Ali Sher Hamidullah, a drifter who explained in Guantánamo that the Uzbek intelligence agents who visited him told him that "the only thing that waits for me in Uzbekistan is a bullet in my head"; Kamalludin Kasimbekov, who had been forcibly recruited to join the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, allies of the Taliban; and Oybek Jabbarov, a 30-year old father of two, who suffers from health problems related to a botched surgical procedure on a ruptured disk in his back in 2007.

Unwillingly transplanted to Afghanistan along with fighters from the IMU, Jabbarov explained in Guantánamo that he made a living "buying and selling sheep, chicken and goats," and was told in December 2001 that the government was giving out ID cards to immigrants at Bagram airbase. "There, I saw American soldiers," he said. "They just took me inside, they questioned me, and they kept me for a few days. I've been detained ever since."

His lawyer, Michael Mone, who recently explained that he had taken on Jabbarov's case because "I felt I could no longer stand on the sidelines and permit this gross executive power grab, which is how I view [Bush's] actions as they relate to torture, rendition, and the creation of Guantánamo as this [legal] black hole," stated that his client had also been threatened by Uzbek intelligence agents. "They at one point showed him a photo array and asked him if he could identify any of the individuals," Mone said in a recent interview. "And when he couldn't identify any of them, one of the Uzbeks banged his fist on the table and said, `When you get back to Uzbekistan, you will know these things.' And Oybek took that to mean that when he got back to Uzbekistan, they would torture him until he told them what they wanted to hear."

So what is happening to them now?

Former US detainees begin Irish integration - The Irish Times - Thu, Oct 01, 2009

Under an agreement between the Government and the US administration, the men have been granted humanitarian leave to remain, a legal status that gives them the right to work and access State services.

While they nominally enjoy the right to travel within the EU, the men have not been issued with travel documents and, as Uzbek nationals, would require visas to visit other European states. Officials say they will be eligible to apply for Irish citizenship after five years.

The men flew into Baldonnel aerodrome on Saturday and were brought directly to the west of the country to begin the integration programme. One of the men has a wife and daughter, and officials expect them to join him in Ireland in due course.

As well as taking courses, the men will be assisted in opening bank accounts and dealing with State bureaucracy.

Three officials from the Department of Justice have been assigned to co-ordinate their resettlement, and while interpreters have also been made available to the men, officials say they have been communicating with staff through English.

A source in the Department of Justice said the men were in good health and slowly adapting to their new circumstances. "It's a major change of circumstances for these people. They have been incarcerated in Guantánamo Bay for seven years, and they're suddenly in an entirely new environment, in an alien country with different weather," the source said.

"They didn't have many clothes when they arrived, so arrangements were made to bring them to buy new shoes. One of the men went, but the other got nervous and decided against . . . We're taking small steps at a time.

"They're in a centre now, but even to leave the centre and go down to the local shop is a major adjustment because they haven't been outside for a long time."

Plans for the men's long-term resettlement have not yet been finalised, but it is expected that they will be helped to find social housing elsewhere in the country before Christmas.

"They don't pose any security threat, and they're as well adjusted as you can be after spending the period of time they did in Guantánamo Bay," the source said.

I suppose its the least we can do, given that we quite possibly connived in their extraordinary rendition to Cuba through Shannon.  Quite why they were flown into the military airbase at Baldonnel has not been explained. Perhaps the US Air Force feared saboteurs might attack their plane in Shannon.

Let us recall that these men have never been given a trial, never been convicted of anything,and have now been interned and quite possibly tortured for 7 years under the "jurisdiction" of the 'land of the free.' Many Nazi war criminals served less time. Let's hope they get used to the weather and settle in well here in Ireland.