User:Geo Swan/working/Uighurs detained in Guantanamo

__NOINDEX__

The United States holds approximately two dozen Uighurs detained in Guantanamo. Eighteen of the detainees attended their Combatant Status Review Tribunals.

The Washington Post reported, on August 24 2005, that fifteen Uighurs had been determined not to have been "enemy combatants" after all. The Post reported that detainees who had been determined to have been not enemy combatants were, not only still being incarcerated, but were still being shackled to the floor.

Common elements in the allegations

 * Most of the Uighurs were alleged to be members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.
 * Most of the Uighurs were alleged to have completed military training.
 * Some of the allegations stated that the military training camp was in the Tora Bora mountains.
 * Most of the Uighurs were alleged to have accepted training that was sponsored by the Taliban, or Al Qaeda.
 * All of the Uighurs were alleged to have fled when their camp was bombed as part of the United States bombing campaign.
 * Many of the Uighurs were alleged to have engaged in hostilities in Tora Bora.

East Turkistan Islamic Movement
All the Uighurs who were asked about the East Turkistan Islamic Movement denied any contact with this organization. They all denied any participation in any political parties or organizations.

AK-47 training
All the detainees either denied receiving any training on the AK-47, or they said that the training they had received was minimal -- that they were shown how to disassemble the rifle, and were allowed to fire a couple of rounds. They all described being trained individually, by Uighurs named either Abdul Haq, or Hassan Maksum. They all denied being trained on any other weapons, or seeing any of the other Uighurs receive training on any other weapons.

Fleeing the camp after it was bombed
All the Uighurs reported that they did not expect their camp to be bombed. Some of the Uighurs acknowledged that they had heard of the attacks of September 11, 2001 on the radio. But none of them knew that the Taliban were accused of involvement. They all acknowledged having fled the camp when it was bombed. They all claimed they were unarmed. One of the Uighurs said Maksum was killed in the bombing.

Motives
None of the Uighurs described seeing the United States as an enemy. All of the Uighurs who mentioned the Chinese government described them as oppressive occupiers. Some of the Uighurs said that they sought out the training in order to go back to China and defend their fellow Uighurs against their Chinese occupiers.

Some of the other Uighurs said they sought out the camp of fellow Uighurs because they were waiting for a visa to Iran, one of the countries they had to pass through on their way to Turkey. They had heard that Turkey would grant them political asylum.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal results
From July 2004 through March 2005 all 568 of the detainees held at Guantanamo had their detention reviewed by Combatant Status Review Tribunals. 38 of the detainees were determined not to have been "enemy combatants" after all. Some or all of the Uighurs were among the 38 detainees determined not to have been enemy combatants, and were transferred from the main detention camp, to more pleasant incarceration at Camp Iguana.

This conclusion was remarked on by the Denbeaux study, that pointed out that many of the detainees who remained incarcerated had faced much less serious allegations than the Uighurs had faced.

Asylum
None of the Uighurs wanted to be returned to China. The United States declined to grant the Uighurs political asylum, or to allow them parole, or even freedom on the Naval Base.

Some of the Uighurs had lawyers who volunteered to help them pursue a writ of habeas corpus, which would have been one step in getting them freed from American detention.

Five of the Uighurs were transported to Albania, on Friday May 5 2006. Barbara Olshansky, a lawyer who had volunteered to help those Uighurs seek a writ of habeas corpus, accused the American government of transporting them in order to avoid having to justify their continued detention when their case went to court, on Monday May 8 2006.

Some press reports state that the Uighurs have been granted political asylum in Albania. But the U.S. government press release merely states that they are applying for asylum in Albania.