Uighurs’ lawyers urge immediate release

SCOTUS reports that Lawyers for 17 Guantánamo Bay detainees who are Chinese Muslims urged the Obama Administration on Friday to order their immediate release, to live at least temporarily in the United States. The plea was made in a letter to Attorney General-designate Eric H. Holder, Jr., Acting Attorney General Mark R. Filip, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. The letter can be found at the link above. Noting that President Obama on Thursday ordered a new review of every Guantanamo detainee’s situation, as part of a plan to close the prison at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba (HURRAH!), the Uighurs’ attorneys wrote: “There is literally nothing left to review…The executive branch, the judiciary, and Members of Congress all have acknowledged that the Uighurs should be released.”

A federal judge more than three months ago ordered that the government transfer the Uighurs to the United States, to examine the conditions under which they could live here at least temporarily while awaiting possible resettlement. The D.C. Circuit is considering a Bush Administration appeal to the transfer order.

KJ