GUANTANAMO
Canada close to accepting three Gitmo detainees
Obama likely to raise issue of Uyghur men on Canadian visit; move could add to pressure to bring Khadr home, expert says
OMAR EL AKKAD
February 4, 2009
Canada is close to accepting three Uyghur men who have been held at Guantanamo Bay for seven years despite being cleared of any wrongdoing by the United States, The Globe and Mail has learned.
The three Uyghurs - members of a Muslim minority from northwestern China - are among six Guantanamo detainees who have recently applied for resettlement in Canada.
A prominent Uyghur human rights activist, Mehmet Tohti, met with several senior Conservative government officials on Jan. 23, to urge them to accept the Uyghur detainees in light of President Barack Obama's decision to close the detention camp within a year.
"There was a positive consensus," Mr. Tohti said of his meeting with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and senior advisers to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. "They were not against it."
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The Globe and Mail
Shortly after the meetings, lawyers for two of the 17 Uyghurs still being held at Guantanamo filed applications for refugee status in Canada. They have not given their lawyers permission to make their names public. A third Uyghur prisoner, Anvar Hassan, filed his application a few months ago.
Mr. Tohti said lawyers have been unable to obtain proof of identity for some of the other 14 Uyghurs, which is necessary to file a refugee claim. The men were captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002, some by Pakistani bounty hunters.
Mr. Hassan is being sponsored for resettlement by the Don Valley Refugee Resettlement Organization, a group of eight Toronto churches. The other two men are being sponsored by the Archdiocese of Montreal. The groups essentially agree to support the men with clothing and shelter should they be allowed into Canada.
Mr. Tohti, a member of the Uyghur Canadian Association, said he has been told by his U.S. counterparts that President Obama will bring up the Uyghurs' case when he visits Canada on Feb. 19.
Canada considered taking in some or all of the original 22 Uyghurs held in Guantanamo several years ago. The government backed off at the last minute, in large part out of concern for the wellbeing of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian serving a life sentence in a Chinese prison. Although China demanded that no country take the men, Albania took five of them.
But now, with a new administration in Washington looking to close Guantanamo and find a new home for most of the detainees who have not been charged with any crime, the Harper government may be more willing to take in what are described as "the most desirable" of the Guantanamo detainees - prisoners who are largely untouched by allegations of terrorism.
If Ottawa does accept any of the Uyghurs, it would add to mounting pressure to bring detained Canadian Omar Khadr home, and would not help Canada-China relations, said University of Toronto professor and national-security expert Wesley Wark.
Prof. Wark said Ottawa will likely approach the Uyghur situation the same way they have approached the Khadr case - refusing to act until the last moment.
"I think the government is going to sit on their hands on this for as long as possible and leave all the steps to the Obama administration," he said.
Kory Teneycke, the Prime Minister's spokesman, refused to comment on the Uyghurs' applications yesterday. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cannon did not return a phone call.
The government has been far less receptive to ongoing requests to accept Algerian prisoners Djamel Ameziane, Ahcene Zemiri and Mauritanian Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Ottawa has fought hard to keep the men out of the country, in part on the grounds that they are not Canadian citizens, but also because of some of the allegations against them. Mr. Ameziane is alleged to have conspired with al-Qaeda, while Mr. Slahi is alleged to have played a role in a terror cell that spawned some of the 9/11 hijackers.
A group of human rights organizations sent a letter to the Prime Minister yesterday urging him to accept the Uyghurs as refugees.
"We recognize that there are other worrying cases of detainees at Guantanamo Bay demanding of Canadian attention and action," the letter states. "As part of your government's contribution to assisting the U.S. government in the closure of Guantanamo Bay we urge you to also make the plight of these 17 Uyghurs a priority for Canadian action."
The letter also calls on Mr. Harper to appoint a special representative to handle Mr. Celil's case. The Canadian citizen was arrested in Uzbekistan while travelling on a Canadian passport and handed over to China in 2006. China accused him of terrorism and sentenced him to life in prison. Chinese officials have never recognized his Canadian citizenship. Canada initially pushed hard for Mr. Celil's release, with Mr. Harper taking the case up directly with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, to no avail. However, in recent years, Ottawa has toned down efforts to bring Mr. Celil home.
Source
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Letter About Uighurs to Secretary of Defense Gates and Attorney General-Designate Holder
Letter About Uighurs to Secretary of Defense Gates and Attorney General-Designate Holder
From Attorney Sabin Willett, signed by CCR Attorneys Wells Dixon, Esq. and Emi MacLean, Esq. (counsel to the Uighur petitioners)
From: Sabin Willett
January 23, 2009
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Esq., Attorney General-designate
Mark R. Filip, Esq., Acting Attorney General
The Honorable Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
Re: Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Gentlemen:
My colleagues copied below and I are counsel to seventeen Uighur prisoners now in their seventh year of incarceration at the Guantanamo prison. We are relieved to see President Obama’s issuance of the Executive Order titled “Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities,” dated January 22, 2009 (the “Order”).
Pursuant to section 4 of the Order, we understand the Attorney General will direct an interagency review regarding all prisoners still held at Guantanamo. We understand the administration will promptly remedy, either by transfer or release, those imprisonments that cannot further be justified. Hundreds of prisoners will be subject to this process—to be completed, even as to the most difficult cases, in no more than one year—in which government officials will determine whether the prisoner should continue to be held.
We write because, as to our seventeen Uighur clients, there is no need to review whether they should be imprisoned. The executive branch, the judiciary, and members of Congress all have acknowledged that the Uighurs should be released. The issue for the Obama Administration is not whether the Uighurs should be released, but rather where they should be released.
We urge the government to release the Uighurs immediately in the only place they can be released—the United States. Not only would this be just, but it is in our national interest. By accepting the Uighurs, we would encourage other countries to accept the significant number of Guantanamo detainees who are cleared for release but who cannot be repatriated. Bringing the Uighurs here is thus an important early step toward carrying out President Obama’s Executive Order and removing a stain on our National character.
The Uighurs present a near-unique profile. The Uighur men at Guantanamo are all from a part of far-western China known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Chinese persecution of the Uighurs has been notorious and well documented.1 The United States Congress has repeatedly noted and condemned Uighur oppression.2 The Department of State has long taken note of the China’s strategy of using the U.S. war on terror as a pretext to oppress independent religious leaders and “peaceful political dissent” by Uighur separatists.3
The material facts are the same as to each man. Our clients were sold to U.S. forces by bounty hunters and transported to Guantanamo. By the end of 2003, well before the institution of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (“CSRTs”),4 our military had cleared most of the Uighurs for release. Despite their early clearances, the Government put the Uighurs through CSRTs in 2004 and 2005.5 In 2008, the D.C. Circuit closely reviewed the case of Uighur detainee Huzaifa Parhat. See Parhat v. Gates, 532 F. 3d 834 (D.C. Cir. 2008). The Court found the government’s evidence to justify his imprisonment utterly lacking, and vacated his enemy combatant classification. It ordered the government to “release Parhat, to transfer him, or to expeditiously convene a new CSRT.” Id. at 851. The government subsequently waived its re-CSRT option. Instead, the government sought, and was granted, the same judgment and release order against itself in four other Uighur DTA cases.6
In September 2008, the government formally conceded that none of the seventeen men is an enemy combatant. On October 7, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina held that their continued imprisonment was indefinite and unlawful. He ordered the government to bring all seventeen Uighurs to his courtroom for release into the United States on appropriate conditions. In re Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation, 570 F. Supp. 2d 13 (D.D.C. 2008). At the hearing, the government advised Judge Urbina that it had no evidence that any of the men, if released, would present any risk to the public.7 All of this was consistent with military determinations that these men were no threat to anyone, as it was consistent with the efforts of our State Department over many years to resettle the men with allies.
Review has been undertaken by the military, the Department of Justice, and the courts, and has conclusively resulted in exoneration.8 There is literally nothing left to review. Accordingly, in these seventeen cases, the Executive should proceed directly to the “remedy” contemplated by the Order, i.e., transfer or release either by direct Executive action or by withdrawing the appeal of Judge Urbina’s order.
The State Department has, without success, attempted to resettle the men abroad since at least 2004, and possibly earlier. The Chinese government has actively undermined the State Department’s efforts. It has successfully pressured nations both strong and weak not to take the Uighurs. It apparently redoubled its efforts to thwart resettlement of the seventeen men at Guantanamo after five exonerated Uighurs were given asylum by Albania in 2006. Moreover, foreign governments have been unwilling to volunteer to take Guantanamo refugees so long as the United States has refused to do so itself. In light of section 3 of the Order, these seventeen men must be released into the United States no later than one year from today, unless a suitable country of resettlement is located. In light of the extensive resettlement efforts to date, prolonging their imprisonments to continue the futile search would extend a cruel and unlawful imprisonment to no purpose.
Fortunately, detailed resettlement arrangements have already been put in place and presented to Judge Urbina, as shown in the attached materials that previously were submitted to the Court. These include the provision of refugee services by religious and refugee organizations. We are amenable to the imposition of reasonable release conditions, such as, for example, monitoring, by the Court in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security.
Although the Executive may choose to grant the men an immigration status, it may also choose not to do so. We do not believe that executive compliance with Judge Urbina’s release order would necessarily confer upon the men any immigration status. In such a situation, the men might be subject to removal to an appropriate country of resettlement should one later be found.
We are buoyed by the President’s prompt attention to the urgent problem of Guantanamo. Now is the time to press forward with action. We urge the President at long last to end these astonishing imprisonments. By doing so he will signal to the American people that the administration is determined to act, rather than merely speak, and to foreign governments that America will exercise responsible leadership in an area where international cooperation will be crucial to the achievement of the President’s one-year objective. And by doing so he would at last, in some small way, begin to do justice for these men.
A remedy can be affected in the first instance by moving to dismiss the appeal and vacate the stay in the Court of Appeals. This will return jurisdiction to the habeas judge. I copy Mr. Loeb and Mr. Henry, who have a deep knowledge of these cases and the pending appeal.
Very truly yours,
Sabin Willett
Enclosures
cc: Thomas Perrelli, Esq., Associate Attorney General-designate
Robert M. Loeb, Esq., U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
Terry Henry, Esq. , U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
Susan Baker Manning, Esq.
Neil McGaraghan, Esq.
Eric Tirschwell, Esq.
Michael Sternhell, Esq.
Seema Saifee, Esq.
Elizabeth Gilson, Esq.
George Clarke, Esq.
Angela Vigil, Esq.
Wells Dixon, Esq.
Emi MacLean, Esq.
(counsel to the Uighur petitioners)
1: See, e.g., Shirley A. Kan, U.S.-China Counterterrorism Cooperation: Issues for U.S. Policy, Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports, No. RL33001 (updated Sept. 2008), available at http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33001_20080911.pdf.
2: In 1996, the House condemned the religious repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang. See H.R. Res. 461, 104th Cong. (1996). Both the Senate and House passed resolutions calling for the release of prominent Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer, who was then imprisoned and is now a U.S. asylee. See S. Con. Res. 81, 106th Cong. (2000); see also H.R. Res. 477, 108th Cong. (2003) (bill calling for Ms. Kadeer’s release). In 2007, two House bills were introduced condemning the oppression of the Uighurs. See H. R. Res. 497, 110th Cong. (2007); H. R. Res. 608, 110th Cong. (2007). Just this year, three resolutions were introduced in the Senate and House condemning human rights abuses of the Uighurs. See H.R. Res. 1370, 110th Cong. (2008); S. Res. 574, 110th Cong. (2008); H.R. Res. 1140, 110th Cong. (2008).
3: See, e.g., U.S. Department of State, China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), Country Reports On Human Rights Practices 2004 (released Feb. 2005), at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41640.htm.
4: In June 2004, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004), concluding that federal district courts have jurisdiction over statutory habeas claims filed by Guantánamo prisoners. Nine days later, the Department of Defense issued an order establishing “Combatant Status Review Tribunals” (“CSRT”) to determine whether the detainees at Guantanamo—many of whom had already been imprisoned there for over two years—were properly held as enemy combatants.
5: Five Uighur men were determined by their CSRTs not to be enemy combatants, while the seventeen who remain imprisoned were all classified as enemy combatants. Given that the basic facts were the same as to all twenty-two, the classification as an enemy combatant or not seems to have been arbitrary. The five Uighurs who were cleared were sent to Albania in May 2006. Of the seventeen who remain imprisoned, at least two were initially determined not to be enemy combatants, but had their classifications changed after intense pressure from the Pentagon. See, e.g., In re Ali, No. 06-1194, (U.S. Feb. 13, 2007) (original habeas petition quoting declassified 2005 Pentagon memo: “16 of 22 Uighers have been classified as EC and the same criteria applied (per SPECIAL Uigher Chart) to them as well. Inconsistencies will not cast a favorable light on the CSRT process or the work done by OARDEC. This does not justify making a change in and of itself, but is a filter by which to look at the overall Uigher transactions since they are all considered the same notwithstanding a specific act. By properly classifying them as EC, then there is an opportunity to (1) further exploit them here in GTMO and (2) when they are transferred to a third country, it will be controlled transfer in status. The consensus is that all Uighers will be transferred to a third country as soon as the plan is worked out.”).
6: Judgment, Abdul Semet v. Gates, et al., Nos. 07-1509, 07-1510, 07-1511, 07-1512 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 12, 2008).
7: The government immediately appealed, and obtained a stay of Judge Urbina’s release order pending resolution of the appeal. The D.C. Circuit heard argument on the morning of November 24, 2008, but has not ruled.
8: The only issue left on appeal is whether the court had the power to order the release of the men into the United States over the objection of then-President Bush.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change
Source
From Attorney Sabin Willett, signed by CCR Attorneys Wells Dixon, Esq. and Emi MacLean, Esq. (counsel to the Uighur petitioners)
From: Sabin Willett
January 23, 2009
Eric H. Holder, Jr., Esq., Attorney General-designate
Mark R. Filip, Esq., Acting Attorney General
The Honorable Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
Re: Uighur detainees at Guantanamo Bay
Gentlemen:
My colleagues copied below and I are counsel to seventeen Uighur prisoners now in their seventh year of incarceration at the Guantanamo prison. We are relieved to see President Obama’s issuance of the Executive Order titled “Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities,” dated January 22, 2009 (the “Order”).
Pursuant to section 4 of the Order, we understand the Attorney General will direct an interagency review regarding all prisoners still held at Guantanamo. We understand the administration will promptly remedy, either by transfer or release, those imprisonments that cannot further be justified. Hundreds of prisoners will be subject to this process—to be completed, even as to the most difficult cases, in no more than one year—in which government officials will determine whether the prisoner should continue to be held.
We write because, as to our seventeen Uighur clients, there is no need to review whether they should be imprisoned. The executive branch, the judiciary, and members of Congress all have acknowledged that the Uighurs should be released. The issue for the Obama Administration is not whether the Uighurs should be released, but rather where they should be released.
We urge the government to release the Uighurs immediately in the only place they can be released—the United States. Not only would this be just, but it is in our national interest. By accepting the Uighurs, we would encourage other countries to accept the significant number of Guantanamo detainees who are cleared for release but who cannot be repatriated. Bringing the Uighurs here is thus an important early step toward carrying out President Obama’s Executive Order and removing a stain on our National character.
The Uighurs present a near-unique profile. The Uighur men at Guantanamo are all from a part of far-western China known as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Chinese persecution of the Uighurs has been notorious and well documented.1 The United States Congress has repeatedly noted and condemned Uighur oppression.2 The Department of State has long taken note of the China’s strategy of using the U.S. war on terror as a pretext to oppress independent religious leaders and “peaceful political dissent” by Uighur separatists.3
The material facts are the same as to each man. Our clients were sold to U.S. forces by bounty hunters and transported to Guantanamo. By the end of 2003, well before the institution of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (“CSRTs”),4 our military had cleared most of the Uighurs for release. Despite their early clearances, the Government put the Uighurs through CSRTs in 2004 and 2005.5 In 2008, the D.C. Circuit closely reviewed the case of Uighur detainee Huzaifa Parhat. See Parhat v. Gates, 532 F. 3d 834 (D.C. Cir. 2008). The Court found the government’s evidence to justify his imprisonment utterly lacking, and vacated his enemy combatant classification. It ordered the government to “release Parhat, to transfer him, or to expeditiously convene a new CSRT.” Id. at 851. The government subsequently waived its re-CSRT option. Instead, the government sought, and was granted, the same judgment and release order against itself in four other Uighur DTA cases.6
In September 2008, the government formally conceded that none of the seventeen men is an enemy combatant. On October 7, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina held that their continued imprisonment was indefinite and unlawful. He ordered the government to bring all seventeen Uighurs to his courtroom for release into the United States on appropriate conditions. In re Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation, 570 F. Supp. 2d 13 (D.D.C. 2008). At the hearing, the government advised Judge Urbina that it had no evidence that any of the men, if released, would present any risk to the public.7 All of this was consistent with military determinations that these men were no threat to anyone, as it was consistent with the efforts of our State Department over many years to resettle the men with allies.
Review has been undertaken by the military, the Department of Justice, and the courts, and has conclusively resulted in exoneration.8 There is literally nothing left to review. Accordingly, in these seventeen cases, the Executive should proceed directly to the “remedy” contemplated by the Order, i.e., transfer or release either by direct Executive action or by withdrawing the appeal of Judge Urbina’s order.
The State Department has, without success, attempted to resettle the men abroad since at least 2004, and possibly earlier. The Chinese government has actively undermined the State Department’s efforts. It has successfully pressured nations both strong and weak not to take the Uighurs. It apparently redoubled its efforts to thwart resettlement of the seventeen men at Guantanamo after five exonerated Uighurs were given asylum by Albania in 2006. Moreover, foreign governments have been unwilling to volunteer to take Guantanamo refugees so long as the United States has refused to do so itself. In light of section 3 of the Order, these seventeen men must be released into the United States no later than one year from today, unless a suitable country of resettlement is located. In light of the extensive resettlement efforts to date, prolonging their imprisonments to continue the futile search would extend a cruel and unlawful imprisonment to no purpose.
Fortunately, detailed resettlement arrangements have already been put in place and presented to Judge Urbina, as shown in the attached materials that previously were submitted to the Court. These include the provision of refugee services by religious and refugee organizations. We are amenable to the imposition of reasonable release conditions, such as, for example, monitoring, by the Court in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security.
Although the Executive may choose to grant the men an immigration status, it may also choose not to do so. We do not believe that executive compliance with Judge Urbina’s release order would necessarily confer upon the men any immigration status. In such a situation, the men might be subject to removal to an appropriate country of resettlement should one later be found.
We are buoyed by the President’s prompt attention to the urgent problem of Guantanamo. Now is the time to press forward with action. We urge the President at long last to end these astonishing imprisonments. By doing so he will signal to the American people that the administration is determined to act, rather than merely speak, and to foreign governments that America will exercise responsible leadership in an area where international cooperation will be crucial to the achievement of the President’s one-year objective. And by doing so he would at last, in some small way, begin to do justice for these men.
A remedy can be affected in the first instance by moving to dismiss the appeal and vacate the stay in the Court of Appeals. This will return jurisdiction to the habeas judge. I copy Mr. Loeb and Mr. Henry, who have a deep knowledge of these cases and the pending appeal.
Very truly yours,
Sabin Willett
Enclosures
cc: Thomas Perrelli, Esq., Associate Attorney General-designate
Robert M. Loeb, Esq., U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
Terry Henry, Esq. , U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
Susan Baker Manning, Esq.
Neil McGaraghan, Esq.
Eric Tirschwell, Esq.
Michael Sternhell, Esq.
Seema Saifee, Esq.
Elizabeth Gilson, Esq.
George Clarke, Esq.
Angela Vigil, Esq.
Wells Dixon, Esq.
Emi MacLean, Esq.
(counsel to the Uighur petitioners)
1: See, e.g., Shirley A. Kan, U.S.-China Counterterrorism Cooperation: Issues for U.S. Policy, Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports, No. RL33001 (updated Sept. 2008), available at http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33001_20080911.pdf.
2: In 1996, the House condemned the religious repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang. See H.R. Res. 461, 104th Cong. (1996). Both the Senate and House passed resolutions calling for the release of prominent Uighur dissident Rebiya Kadeer, who was then imprisoned and is now a U.S. asylee. See S. Con. Res. 81, 106th Cong. (2000); see also H.R. Res. 477, 108th Cong. (2003) (bill calling for Ms. Kadeer’s release). In 2007, two House bills were introduced condemning the oppression of the Uighurs. See H. R. Res. 497, 110th Cong. (2007); H. R. Res. 608, 110th Cong. (2007). Just this year, three resolutions were introduced in the Senate and House condemning human rights abuses of the Uighurs. See H.R. Res. 1370, 110th Cong. (2008); S. Res. 574, 110th Cong. (2008); H.R. Res. 1140, 110th Cong. (2008).
3: See, e.g., U.S. Department of State, China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), Country Reports On Human Rights Practices 2004 (released Feb. 2005), at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41640.htm.
4: In June 2004, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 (2004), concluding that federal district courts have jurisdiction over statutory habeas claims filed by Guantánamo prisoners. Nine days later, the Department of Defense issued an order establishing “Combatant Status Review Tribunals” (“CSRT”) to determine whether the detainees at Guantanamo—many of whom had already been imprisoned there for over two years—were properly held as enemy combatants.
5: Five Uighur men were determined by their CSRTs not to be enemy combatants, while the seventeen who remain imprisoned were all classified as enemy combatants. Given that the basic facts were the same as to all twenty-two, the classification as an enemy combatant or not seems to have been arbitrary. The five Uighurs who were cleared were sent to Albania in May 2006. Of the seventeen who remain imprisoned, at least two were initially determined not to be enemy combatants, but had their classifications changed after intense pressure from the Pentagon. See, e.g., In re Ali, No. 06-1194, (U.S. Feb. 13, 2007) (original habeas petition quoting declassified 2005 Pentagon memo: “16 of 22 Uighers have been classified as EC and the same criteria applied (per SPECIAL Uigher Chart) to them as well. Inconsistencies will not cast a favorable light on the CSRT process or the work done by OARDEC. This does not justify making a change in and of itself, but is a filter by which to look at the overall Uigher transactions since they are all considered the same notwithstanding a specific act. By properly classifying them as EC, then there is an opportunity to (1) further exploit them here in GTMO and (2) when they are transferred to a third country, it will be controlled transfer in status. The consensus is that all Uighers will be transferred to a third country as soon as the plan is worked out.”).
6: Judgment, Abdul Semet v. Gates, et al., Nos. 07-1509, 07-1510, 07-1511, 07-1512 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 12, 2008).
7: The government immediately appealed, and obtained a stay of Judge Urbina’s release order pending resolution of the appeal. The D.C. Circuit heard argument on the morning of November 24, 2008, but has not ruled.
8: The only issue left on appeal is whether the court had the power to order the release of the men into the United States over the objection of then-President Bush.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change
Source
Canada a desired location for Guantanamo Bay detainees
Canada a desired location for Guantanamo Bay detainees
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 | 6:46 PM ET Comments99Recommend18
By Darren Bernhardt, CBC News
Many Guantanamo Bay detainees cleared of terrorist charges and slated for release have expressed a desire to live in Canada, and refugee organizations are calling for sponsors.
The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), a non-profit umbrella group representing several non-governmental organizations and churches, is leading the plea, which goes out to groups and private individuals alike. The ability for citizens to sponsor refugees is unique to Canada, according to CCR executive director Janet Dench, noting refugees to every other country must be government-sponsored.
With U.S. President Barack Obama signing an executive order on Jan. 22 to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, there is a heightened urgency to find homes for the 55-60 international detainees who cannot return to their home countries for fear of persecution, Dench said.
'This is a highly political issue, and the UN does not like to get involved. The Canadian and U.S. governments have ignored us.' —Janet Dench, Canadian Council for Refugees
"Many years ago we started raising concern about the need for there to be a solution" for detainees cleared of being a terrorist threat to the U.S., she told CBC News. "We pressed the U.S. government and the United Nations, which has been singularly unhelpful.
"This is a highly political issue and the UN does not like to get involved. The Canadian and U.S. governments have ignored us."
Some media reports have stated there are six detainees, including three Uighurs, who have applied for resettlement in Canada. The Uighurs are a Muslim minority group from northwestern China, many of whom have fought for independence from China.
The reports by various Canadian media outlets state those individuals are seeking to live in Toronto and Montreal, though Dench denies that.
"That's incorrect. I don't know of six of them that have applications," she said. "We are working to find places for as many people as we can. The expectation is not that all 60 would come to Canada because there are also a number of European countries coming forward with sponsorships."
Of the detainees currently inside the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, 17 are Uighurs who were cleared of all charges against them in 2004. But they haven't been released because few countries have been willing to take them and incur China's wrath.
Canada a destination of choice
Canada is one of the desired destinations for those detainees, according to Washington-based lawyer George Clarke, who represents Anwar Hassan, a Uighur who has a confirmed application for resettlement.
"Canada is a bit of a leader from a human rights perspective," he said, also noting that Canada already "has a good size" Uighur population.
Clarke called his client's application is a "litmus test" for this country.
"Perhaps, this will make it easier for all Uighur detainees to step forward and make applications. Maybe once Mr. Hassan and a few others are in, the government will come forward and simply say, 'We'll take them all.' I don't know; it's so tough to tell what is going to happen."
Despite his client's sponsorship by the Don Valley Refugee Resettlers (DVRR), a group of eight Toronto churches associated with the CCR, Clarke still has no idea when or if Hassan will be approved.
"It's like a magic box. You open it and really have no idea how things happen," he said.
Clarke is aware of two other Uighur men also being sponsored by the DVRR but was also confused about the number of detainees being reported on by some Canadian media.
"I don't know where that six is coming from. There's my client and two others," he said. "Six? I don't know about that."
The Archdiocese of Montreal has been listed in some reports as another sponsor for detainees, but calls to that organization were not immediately returned.
Source
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 | 6:46 PM ET Comments99Recommend18
By Darren Bernhardt, CBC News
Many Guantanamo Bay detainees cleared of terrorist charges and slated for release have expressed a desire to live in Canada, and refugee organizations are calling for sponsors.
The Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), a non-profit umbrella group representing several non-governmental organizations and churches, is leading the plea, which goes out to groups and private individuals alike. The ability for citizens to sponsor refugees is unique to Canada, according to CCR executive director Janet Dench, noting refugees to every other country must be government-sponsored.
With U.S. President Barack Obama signing an executive order on Jan. 22 to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, there is a heightened urgency to find homes for the 55-60 international detainees who cannot return to their home countries for fear of persecution, Dench said.
'This is a highly political issue, and the UN does not like to get involved. The Canadian and U.S. governments have ignored us.' —Janet Dench, Canadian Council for Refugees
"Many years ago we started raising concern about the need for there to be a solution" for detainees cleared of being a terrorist threat to the U.S., she told CBC News. "We pressed the U.S. government and the United Nations, which has been singularly unhelpful.
"This is a highly political issue and the UN does not like to get involved. The Canadian and U.S. governments have ignored us."
Some media reports have stated there are six detainees, including three Uighurs, who have applied for resettlement in Canada. The Uighurs are a Muslim minority group from northwestern China, many of whom have fought for independence from China.
The reports by various Canadian media outlets state those individuals are seeking to live in Toronto and Montreal, though Dench denies that.
"That's incorrect. I don't know of six of them that have applications," she said. "We are working to find places for as many people as we can. The expectation is not that all 60 would come to Canada because there are also a number of European countries coming forward with sponsorships."
Of the detainees currently inside the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, 17 are Uighurs who were cleared of all charges against them in 2004. But they haven't been released because few countries have been willing to take them and incur China's wrath.
Canada a destination of choice
Canada is one of the desired destinations for those detainees, according to Washington-based lawyer George Clarke, who represents Anwar Hassan, a Uighur who has a confirmed application for resettlement.
"Canada is a bit of a leader from a human rights perspective," he said, also noting that Canada already "has a good size" Uighur population.
Clarke called his client's application is a "litmus test" for this country.
"Perhaps, this will make it easier for all Uighur detainees to step forward and make applications. Maybe once Mr. Hassan and a few others are in, the government will come forward and simply say, 'We'll take them all.' I don't know; it's so tough to tell what is going to happen."
Despite his client's sponsorship by the Don Valley Refugee Resettlers (DVRR), a group of eight Toronto churches associated with the CCR, Clarke still has no idea when or if Hassan will be approved.
"It's like a magic box. You open it and really have no idea how things happen," he said.
Clarke is aware of two other Uighur men also being sponsored by the DVRR but was also confused about the number of detainees being reported on by some Canadian media.
"I don't know where that six is coming from. There's my client and two others," he said. "Six? I don't know about that."
The Archdiocese of Montreal has been listed in some reports as another sponsor for detainees, but calls to that organization were not immediately returned.
Source
3 Uighurs at Guantanamo ask Canada for asylum
3 Uighurs at Guantanamo ask Canada for asylum
By ROB GILLIES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
This Jan. 27, 2009 file photo shows demonstrators protesting in front of the White House in Washington, calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay facility. Three Chinese detainees cleared for release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay have applied for political asylum in Canada, lawyers for the men and a group sponsoring them said Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009. The men are among 17 Chinese Muslims called Uighurs at Guantanamo. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file)
TORONTO -- Three Chinese detainees cleared for release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay have applied for political asylum in Canada, lawyers for the men and a group sponsoring them said Tuesday.
The men are among 17 Chinese Muslims called Uighurs (pronounced WEE'-gurz) at Guantanamo. The U.S. has cleared them for release but fears they could be mistreated or even tortured if they are turned over to China, which alleges they are terrorists who belong to an outlawed separatist group.
Two of the inmates applied last week and one applied last October, said Mehmet Tohti, a member of the Uighur Canadian Association, a non-profit cultural organization that is part of the group sponsoring the men's request for asylum.
Tohti said there has been no government response so far to the Uighurs' request. But Canada has refused several requests from Washington in the past to provide asylum for Uighurs cleared for release from Guantanamo.
Danielle Norris, a spokeswoman for Canada's Citizenship and Immigration government agency, said without the consent of the men she could not speak to their specific cases because of privacy laws.
Norris said in an e-mail that the number one focus of the department is protecting the security of Canadians and that any applicant would face rejection if there were reasonable grounds to believe they have "engaged or will engage in acts of terrorism."
Seema Saifee, a New York-based lawyer who represents the other two Uighurs, said the economic and diplomatic threat of straining relations with China by accepting the Uighurs is enough to scare a number of governments away from taking them.
Canada - like other countries - has seemed ill at ease in the past with taking on Guantanamo prisoners to remedy a massive headache for the U.S.
The former Bush administration set up Guantanamo in January 2002 for suspected al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners, many of them plucked from battlefields in Afghanistan. They were deemed "enemy combatants" and most were never charged with any crime, or given a trial. The prison was condemned repeatedly by human rights groups and many governments.
In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama ordered Guantanamo shut down within a year. Last month, Obama gave a U.S. task force 30 days to recommend where to put the 245 remaining detainees.
The former Bush administration contended that the Uighurs were too dangerous to be admitted to the U.S. Albania accepted five Uighur detainees in 2006 but has since balked at taking others, partly for fear of diplomatic repercussions from China.
Notes prepared for former Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in February 2007, obtained by The Canadian Press news agency under Canada's Access to Information Act, indicate the Bush administration asked Canada to accept Uighur detainees who were deemed to be no threat to national security.
Canadian officials indicated to the U.S. that the men would likely be inadmissible under Canadian immigration law, according to a Foreign Affairs briefing note prepared about a meeting in 2007.
Lawyer George Clarke, whose client Anwar Hassan applied to Canada last October, said Hassan was sent to Guantanamo after being captured in Pakistan in 2002.
"At this point, he is looking forward, not backward, and wants to get on with the rest of his life," Clarke said an e-mail.
Saifee said Canada could help the U.S. by accepting the Uighurs. "It would be a very wonderful gesture of goodwill."
Canadian opposition Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said the United States should deal with Guantanamo itself.
"Why should people clean up their dirty business?" Kenny said. "I don't have much sympathy with the Americans for creating that prison."
Kenny, however, said the only Canadian at Guantanamo, Omar Khadr, should be returned to Canada. Khadr is accused of killing a U.S. medic in Afghanistan. Canada's Conservative government has not asked for his return but has come under pressure to bring him back to Canada.
Associated Press Writer Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
Source
By ROB GILLIES
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
This Jan. 27, 2009 file photo shows demonstrators protesting in front of the White House in Washington, calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay facility. Three Chinese detainees cleared for release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay have applied for political asylum in Canada, lawyers for the men and a group sponsoring them said Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009. The men are among 17 Chinese Muslims called Uighurs at Guantanamo. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, file)
TORONTO -- Three Chinese detainees cleared for release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay have applied for political asylum in Canada, lawyers for the men and a group sponsoring them said Tuesday.
The men are among 17 Chinese Muslims called Uighurs (pronounced WEE'-gurz) at Guantanamo. The U.S. has cleared them for release but fears they could be mistreated or even tortured if they are turned over to China, which alleges they are terrorists who belong to an outlawed separatist group.
Two of the inmates applied last week and one applied last October, said Mehmet Tohti, a member of the Uighur Canadian Association, a non-profit cultural organization that is part of the group sponsoring the men's request for asylum.
Tohti said there has been no government response so far to the Uighurs' request. But Canada has refused several requests from Washington in the past to provide asylum for Uighurs cleared for release from Guantanamo.
Danielle Norris, a spokeswoman for Canada's Citizenship and Immigration government agency, said without the consent of the men she could not speak to their specific cases because of privacy laws.
Norris said in an e-mail that the number one focus of the department is protecting the security of Canadians and that any applicant would face rejection if there were reasonable grounds to believe they have "engaged or will engage in acts of terrorism."
Seema Saifee, a New York-based lawyer who represents the other two Uighurs, said the economic and diplomatic threat of straining relations with China by accepting the Uighurs is enough to scare a number of governments away from taking them.
Canada - like other countries - has seemed ill at ease in the past with taking on Guantanamo prisoners to remedy a massive headache for the U.S.
The former Bush administration set up Guantanamo in January 2002 for suspected al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners, many of them plucked from battlefields in Afghanistan. They were deemed "enemy combatants" and most were never charged with any crime, or given a trial. The prison was condemned repeatedly by human rights groups and many governments.
In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama ordered Guantanamo shut down within a year. Last month, Obama gave a U.S. task force 30 days to recommend where to put the 245 remaining detainees.
The former Bush administration contended that the Uighurs were too dangerous to be admitted to the U.S. Albania accepted five Uighur detainees in 2006 but has since balked at taking others, partly for fear of diplomatic repercussions from China.
Notes prepared for former Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in February 2007, obtained by The Canadian Press news agency under Canada's Access to Information Act, indicate the Bush administration asked Canada to accept Uighur detainees who were deemed to be no threat to national security.
Canadian officials indicated to the U.S. that the men would likely be inadmissible under Canadian immigration law, according to a Foreign Affairs briefing note prepared about a meeting in 2007.
Lawyer George Clarke, whose client Anwar Hassan applied to Canada last October, said Hassan was sent to Guantanamo after being captured in Pakistan in 2002.
"At this point, he is looking forward, not backward, and wants to get on with the rest of his life," Clarke said an e-mail.
Saifee said Canada could help the U.S. by accepting the Uighurs. "It would be a very wonderful gesture of goodwill."
Canadian opposition Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said the United States should deal with Guantanamo itself.
"Why should people clean up their dirty business?" Kenny said. "I don't have much sympathy with the Americans for creating that prison."
Kenny, however, said the only Canadian at Guantanamo, Omar Khadr, should be returned to Canada. Khadr is accused of killing a U.S. medic in Afghanistan. Canada's Conservative government has not asked for his return but has come under pressure to bring him back to Canada.
Associated Press Writer Ben Fox in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
Source
Monday, February 2, 2009
Uyghurs held at Guantanamo seeking to come live in Canada
Uyghurs held at Guantanamo seeking to come live in Canada
KATE HAMMER
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
February 2, 2009 at 10:21 PM EST
With the pending shutdown of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, six detainees have applied for resettlement in Canada, including three Uyghurs who have been cleared of all charges.
Their lawyers hope that a changed political landscape will help them, and a Toronto-based refugee organization that is sponsoring one of them says the step could earn Canada the favour of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Uyghurs are a Muslim minority group in northwestern China. Beijing has used the war on terrorism as leverage in its continuing crackdown on the Uyghurs, some of whom have fought fiercely for independence from China.
The three men, all in their 30s, were detained in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 and 2002. One, Anwar Hassan, applied for sponsored resettlement last fall, and the two others applied last week. Mr. Hassan is being sponsored by the Don Valley Refugee Resettlement Organization, a group of eight Toronto churches, and the other two men are being sponsored by the Archdiocese of Montreal.
Mr. Hassan's Washington-based lawyer, George Clarke, said his client's application will be a litmus test of whether Canada might open its doors to all 17 Uyghur detainees with no place to go with the closing of the U.S. detention centre, one of Mr. Obama's first moves after his inauguration last month.
“Canada, from a perspective of human rights, is a sort of leader,” he said. “They certainly are also a close contact to the United States, they have a strong economy, they have a good Uyghur population, so it's kind of all the pieces put together in one place.”
Seema Saifee, a New York-based lawyer for the other two men, said taking in the Uyghurs, who are ideal candidates for refugee status, would allow Canada to lend a helping hand to the Obama administration. “Immediately after they were brought to Guantanamo, the U.S. military told our clients they were mistakenly picked up, were innocent, and would soon be released. The government has conceded that they are non-combatant civilians, and has declared them free to leave Guantanamo. The sole reason they remain in Guantanamo is because they have nowhere to go.”
Canada has come close to taking in the Guantanamo Uyghurs in the past, but Ottawa pulled back at the last minute – in large part, an investigation by The Globe and Mail found, because of fears of what would happen to Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen in a Chinese prison who is also a member of China's Uyghur minority.
An opportunity will be missed "if Canada doesn't act this time," said Mehmet Tohti, a member of the Uyghur Canadian Association, part of the group sponsoring Mr. Hassan.
The only Canadian in the Guantanamo Bay prison is Omar Khadr, who is accused of killing a U.S. medic in Afghanistan. Ottawa has been under pressure to bring him back to Canada.
Source
KATE HAMMER
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
February 2, 2009 at 10:21 PM EST
With the pending shutdown of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, six detainees have applied for resettlement in Canada, including three Uyghurs who have been cleared of all charges.
Their lawyers hope that a changed political landscape will help them, and a Toronto-based refugee organization that is sponsoring one of them says the step could earn Canada the favour of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Uyghurs are a Muslim minority group in northwestern China. Beijing has used the war on terrorism as leverage in its continuing crackdown on the Uyghurs, some of whom have fought fiercely for independence from China.
The three men, all in their 30s, were detained in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 and 2002. One, Anwar Hassan, applied for sponsored resettlement last fall, and the two others applied last week. Mr. Hassan is being sponsored by the Don Valley Refugee Resettlement Organization, a group of eight Toronto churches, and the other two men are being sponsored by the Archdiocese of Montreal.
Mr. Hassan's Washington-based lawyer, George Clarke, said his client's application will be a litmus test of whether Canada might open its doors to all 17 Uyghur detainees with no place to go with the closing of the U.S. detention centre, one of Mr. Obama's first moves after his inauguration last month.
“Canada, from a perspective of human rights, is a sort of leader,” he said. “They certainly are also a close contact to the United States, they have a strong economy, they have a good Uyghur population, so it's kind of all the pieces put together in one place.”
Seema Saifee, a New York-based lawyer for the other two men, said taking in the Uyghurs, who are ideal candidates for refugee status, would allow Canada to lend a helping hand to the Obama administration. “Immediately after they were brought to Guantanamo, the U.S. military told our clients they were mistakenly picked up, were innocent, and would soon be released. The government has conceded that they are non-combatant civilians, and has declared them free to leave Guantanamo. The sole reason they remain in Guantanamo is because they have nowhere to go.”
Canada has come close to taking in the Guantanamo Uyghurs in the past, but Ottawa pulled back at the last minute – in large part, an investigation by The Globe and Mail found, because of fears of what would happen to Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen in a Chinese prison who is also a member of China's Uyghur minority.
An opportunity will be missed "if Canada doesn't act this time," said Mehmet Tohti, a member of the Uyghur Canadian Association, part of the group sponsoring Mr. Hassan.
The only Canadian in the Guantanamo Bay prison is Omar Khadr, who is accused of killing a U.S. medic in Afghanistan. Ottawa has been under pressure to bring him back to Canada.
Source
Canada preferred destination for 6 Gitmo detainees
Canada preferred destination for 6 Gitmo detainees
Detainees include 3 Chinese Muslims which the Middle Kingdom wants returned
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News ServiceFebruary 2, 2009 3:01 PM
In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Jan. 21. Six prospective refugees from Gitmo are Uyghurs, three others from undisclosed countries.
In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Jan. 21. Six prospective refugees from Gitmo are Uyghurs, three others from undisclosed countries.
Photograph by: Brennan Linsley, Reuters
OTTAWA - Six Guantanamo Bay detainees, backed by Canadian sponsors, are seeking refugee status in Canada with the pending closure of the U.S. detention centre in Cuba, including three Chinese Muslims who have been cleared of posing a threat to American security.
Human rights lawyers and other supporters have filed a formal application for Anvar (Ali) Hassan, an ethnic Uyghur who says he will be tortured or even executed if he is forced to return to China.
The 34-year-old prisoner, one of 17 Chinese Muslims sent to Guantanamo after being captured in Pakistan in 2002, is a “test case” of sorts in an international bid to find them safe homes, George Clarke, Hassan’s Washington-based lawyer, told Canwest News Service.
“We’re looking to find him a way out of Guantanamo and obviously Canada is on anybody’s short list,” Clarke told Canwest News Service.
“If they got comfortable in taking one or two guys, why wouldn’t they be comfortable in taking 17?”
Many other countries have been approached in the last couple of years to take the Guantanamo Uyghurs after they were cleared almost three years ago of being a terrorist threat to the U.S.
A judge ordered their release last September, but no country has been willing to offer them asylum.
China has unsuccessfully pressed the U.S. to return them to their homeland, saying that they are terrorists who are seeking an independent Muslim homeland in northwestern China.
Hassan, a dissident who fled China to live and train in a camp in Afghanistan in 2001, was among about two dozen Uyghurs who fled after the U.S. moved against the Taliban and were later caught in the hills of Pakistan.
The Chinese authorities have asserted that the Uyghur detainees were fighting with the Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Hassan’s sponsor is the Don Valley Refugee Resettlement Organization, a group of eight churches in the Toronto area.
A summary of his case, supplied by his lawyers, says that he admitted to military training in Afghanistan, but that his motivation was “to fight to oppressive Chinese government.”
He says that he was tortured and beaten in prison in China in 1999, where he was held for one month for “being Uyghur.”
Mehmet Tohti of the Uyghur Canadian Society said that Canada came close to accepting Guantanamo Uyghurs in 2006, but backed off for fear of reprisal from China at a time when Canadian officials were trying to negotiate with authorities over the fate of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen and ethnic Uyghur being held in China on terrorism charges.
Canada’s efforts failed and Celil was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007.
Tohti said that bid to bring the detainees to Canada has been revived, in part, because there is a feeling that Canada has nothing to lose now that it has been snubbed by Beijing in the Celil appeal.
Tohti said Canada should “get the score equal” with China by ignoring the country’s international plea to reject the Guantanamo Uyghurs.
Moreover, permitting them to come to Canada would send a signal of Canada’s willingness to co-operate with the Obama administration, which is seeking countries to accept Guantanamo detainees in light of the planned closure, Tohti said.
Last October, the Anglican Diocese of Montreal sponsored a refugee application for Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian detained at Guantanamo since 2002. Like the Uyghurs, he has not been charged with anything.
Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said there has been no word from the Immigration Department on the fate of Ameziane, who lived in Montreal for five years during the 1990s.
Hassan’s bid to come to Canada is expected to be followed by five other attempts from Guantanamo detainees in the next few months, accompanied by sponsors who have come forward to support them, said Dench.
Three prospective refugees are Uyghurs, the others are from undisclosed countries, she said.
Source
Detainees include 3 Chinese Muslims which the Middle Kingdom wants returned
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News ServiceFebruary 2, 2009 3:01 PM
In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Jan. 21. Six prospective refugees from Gitmo are Uyghurs, three others from undisclosed countries.
In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, a guard leans on a fencepost as a Guantanamo detainee jogs inside the exercise yard at Camp 5 detention center, at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Jan. 21. Six prospective refugees from Gitmo are Uyghurs, three others from undisclosed countries.
Photograph by: Brennan Linsley, Reuters
OTTAWA - Six Guantanamo Bay detainees, backed by Canadian sponsors, are seeking refugee status in Canada with the pending closure of the U.S. detention centre in Cuba, including three Chinese Muslims who have been cleared of posing a threat to American security.
Human rights lawyers and other supporters have filed a formal application for Anvar (Ali) Hassan, an ethnic Uyghur who says he will be tortured or even executed if he is forced to return to China.
The 34-year-old prisoner, one of 17 Chinese Muslims sent to Guantanamo after being captured in Pakistan in 2002, is a “test case” of sorts in an international bid to find them safe homes, George Clarke, Hassan’s Washington-based lawyer, told Canwest News Service.
“We’re looking to find him a way out of Guantanamo and obviously Canada is on anybody’s short list,” Clarke told Canwest News Service.
“If they got comfortable in taking one or two guys, why wouldn’t they be comfortable in taking 17?”
Many other countries have been approached in the last couple of years to take the Guantanamo Uyghurs after they were cleared almost three years ago of being a terrorist threat to the U.S.
A judge ordered their release last September, but no country has been willing to offer them asylum.
China has unsuccessfully pressed the U.S. to return them to their homeland, saying that they are terrorists who are seeking an independent Muslim homeland in northwestern China.
Hassan, a dissident who fled China to live and train in a camp in Afghanistan in 2001, was among about two dozen Uyghurs who fled after the U.S. moved against the Taliban and were later caught in the hills of Pakistan.
The Chinese authorities have asserted that the Uyghur detainees were fighting with the Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Hassan’s sponsor is the Don Valley Refugee Resettlement Organization, a group of eight churches in the Toronto area.
A summary of his case, supplied by his lawyers, says that he admitted to military training in Afghanistan, but that his motivation was “to fight to oppressive Chinese government.”
He says that he was tortured and beaten in prison in China in 1999, where he was held for one month for “being Uyghur.”
Mehmet Tohti of the Uyghur Canadian Society said that Canada came close to accepting Guantanamo Uyghurs in 2006, but backed off for fear of reprisal from China at a time when Canadian officials were trying to negotiate with authorities over the fate of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen and ethnic Uyghur being held in China on terrorism charges.
Canada’s efforts failed and Celil was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007.
Tohti said that bid to bring the detainees to Canada has been revived, in part, because there is a feeling that Canada has nothing to lose now that it has been snubbed by Beijing in the Celil appeal.
Tohti said Canada should “get the score equal” with China by ignoring the country’s international plea to reject the Guantanamo Uyghurs.
Moreover, permitting them to come to Canada would send a signal of Canada’s willingness to co-operate with the Obama administration, which is seeking countries to accept Guantanamo detainees in light of the planned closure, Tohti said.
Last October, the Anglican Diocese of Montreal sponsored a refugee application for Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian detained at Guantanamo since 2002. Like the Uyghurs, he has not been charged with anything.
Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said there has been no word from the Immigration Department on the fate of Ameziane, who lived in Montreal for five years during the 1990s.
Hassan’s bid to come to Canada is expected to be followed by five other attempts from Guantanamo detainees in the next few months, accompanied by sponsors who have come forward to support them, said Dench.
Three prospective refugees are Uyghurs, the others are from undisclosed countries, she said.
Source
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