Uyghur captives in Guantanamo

The United States government has held twenty-two Uyghurs in Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. Eighteen of the detainees were present at Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) conducted by the U.S. military to review their cases.

Uyghurs are an ethnic group from Xinjiang province in western China. [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FK04Ad02.html China's Uighurs trapped at Guantanamo] , "Asia Times", November 4 2004]

The Uyghurs call their homeland East Turkestan.

"The Washington Post" reported on August 24, 2005 that fifteen Uyghurs had been determined to be "No longer enemy combatants" (NLEC) after all. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/23/AR2005082301362_pf.html Chinese Detainees Are Men Without a Country: 15 Muslims, Cleared of Terrorism Charges, Remain at Guantanamo With Nowhere to Go] , "The Washington Post", August 24 2005] The Post reported that detainees who had been classified as NLEC were, not only still being incarcerated, but were still being shackled to the floor. Five of these Uyghurs, who had filed for writs of "habeas corpus", were transported to Albania on May 5, 2006 just prior to a scheduled judicial review of their petitions. As of June 22, 2008, seventeen Uyghur men remain incarcerated at Guantanamo. Two years ago, an Administrative Review Board declared all but one to be "approved for release." The Pentagon had previously determined, reportedly as early as 2003, that the Uyghurs should be released. They continue to be incarcerated.

Common elements in the allegations

*Most of the Uyghurs were alleged to be members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.
*Most of the Uyghurs were alleged to have completed military training.
**Some of the allegations stated that a supposed military training camp was in the Tora Bora mountains.
*Most of the Uyghurs were alleged to have accepted training that was sponsored by the Taliban, or Al Qaeda.
*All of the Uyghurs were alleged to have fled when their camp was bombed as part of the United States air bombing campaign of Afghanistan in 2001.
*Many of the Uyghurs were alleged to have engaged in hostilities in Tora Bora.

Common elements in the detainees' testimony

East Turkestan Islamic Movement

All the Uyghurs 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 Uyghurs named either Abdul Haq, or Hassan Maksum. They all denied being trained on any other weapons, or seeing any of the other Uyghurs receive training on any other weapons.

Fleeing the camp after it was bombed

All the Uyghurs reported that they did not expect their camp to be bombed. Some of them 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 Uyghurs said Maksum was killed in the bombing.

Motives

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

Some of the other Uyghurs said they sought out the camp of fellow Uyghurs 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.

Early release discussions

The Asian Times reported, on November 4 2004, that there had already been internal discussion over how the USA could release Uyghurs, without putting their safety at risk.]
*Stated he only fired a handful of bullets when shown how to use an AK-47.]
* Transported to Albania on May 5 2006. [http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2006/05/10/uyghur_guantanamo/ Guantanamo Uyghurs Try to Settle in Albania] , "Radio Free Asia", May 10 2006] [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/nlec/ Guantanamo Bay Detainees Classifed as "No Longer Enemy Combatants"] , "Washington Post"]
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277 ||
*Mahnut Bahtiyar
*Bahtiyar Mahnut
*Sadir Sabit
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* Attended his CSRT. [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_12_1179-1239.pdf Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Haji Mohammed Ayub's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - pages 49-55]
* Transported to Albania on May 5 2006. [http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2006/05/10/uyghur_guantanamo/ Guantanamo Uyghurs Try to Settle in Albania] , "Radio Free Asia", May 10 2006] [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/nlec/ Guantanamo Bay Detainees Classifed as "No Longer Enemy Combatants"] , "Washington Post"]
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280 |
* Saidullah Khalik
* Khalid Ali
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* No record that he attended his CSR Tribunal.
* Was wounded during the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdocs.justia.com%2Fcases%2Ffederal%2Fdistrict-courts%2Fdistrict-of-columbia%2Fdcdce%2F1%3A2008mc00442%2F131990%2F96%2F0.pdf&date=2008-08-22 mirror] ]
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* Attended his CSRT. [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt/Set_2_0098-0204.pdf Summarized transcripts (.pdf)] , from Hajiakbar Abdulghupur's "Combatant Status Review Tribunal" - pages 65]
* Determined to have been an "enemy combatant", but there is no record that any annual Administrative Review Board hearings have been convened.
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283 || Abu Bakr Qasim ||
* Attended his CSRT. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2008%2F06%2F23%2FAR2008062300844.html&date=2008-06-23 mirror] ] cite news
url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/41907.html
title=In first, court rejects military's ruling in Guantanamo case
publisher=McClatchy News Service
date=June 23 2008
accessdate=2008-06-23
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/23/america/NA-GEN-US-Guantanamo-Chinese-Muslim.php
title=US appeals court rejects classification of Chinese Muslim as an enemy combatant
publisher=International Herald Tribune
date=June 23 2008
accessdate=2008-06-23
quote=]
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328 |
* Ahmed Mohamed
* Hammad Memet
|

"Radio Free Asia" named the five released Uyghurs. [http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2006/05/10/uyghur_guantanamo/ Guantanamo Uyghurs Try to Settle in Albania] , "Radio Free Asia", May 10 2006] But the report identified the Uyghurs with different transliterations than that used in the U.S. press release:
Ababehir Qasim,
Adil Abdulhakim, Ayuphaji Mahomet, Ahter and
Ahmet

References

ee also

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7306087.stm Uighur inmate in Guantanamo plea] , 20 March 2008, BBC