Title: The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Urges President Obama to Tackle China's Human Rights at the UN
The Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission James P. McGovern along with other ranking members have sent a letter to President Obama, highlighting the importance of the U.S. involvement at the UN Human Rights Council, especially in the upcoming Universal Periodic Review of China, which will take place on February 09. They urged his Administration to actively participate in the Universal Periodic Review of China's dismal human rights record as China continues to violate the human rights of the Uyghurs, Tibetans and other groups unabated.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Chairman Bill Delahunt Urges President Obama to Consider Resettling Guantanamo Uyghurs in the U.S.
Chairman Bill Delahunt Urges President Obama to Consider Resettling Guantanamo Uyghurs in the U.S.
Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Organization, Human Rights and Oversight Bill Delahunt has sent a letter to President Obama, urging his Administration to consider resettling the 17 Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo in the U.S. Chairman Delahunt states in his letter, "Taking the Uighur detainees would demonstrate that a new era has indeed arrived."
Read the letter, Please Click
Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Organization, Human Rights and Oversight Bill Delahunt has sent a letter to President Obama, urging his Administration to consider resettling the 17 Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo in the U.S. Chairman Delahunt states in his letter, "Taking the Uighur detainees would demonstrate that a new era has indeed arrived."
Read the letter, Please Click
Coalition Letter to Prime Minister
Following Letter has been sent to R.H. Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of China Human Rights Coalition.
To read the Letter Please Click
To read the Letter Please Click
Minister ponders permits for Gitmo's Uyghurs
Minister ponders permits for Gitmo's Uyghurs
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News ServiceFebruary 4, 2009 6:01 PM
A file photo shows detainees sitting in a holding area watched by military police at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at the possibility of accepting several Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay.
A file photo shows detainees sitting in a holding area watched by military police at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at the possibility of accepting several Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Photograph by: Reuters, Canwest News Service
OTTAWA - Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at the possibility of accepting several Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay, without setting a precedent for several other detainees at the U.S. military camp who would like to settle in Canada.
Among other things, Kenney is contemplating whether to issue special ministerial permits for three ethnic Uyghurs who have applied to settle in Canada with the backing of Canadian sponsors, Canwest News Service has learned.
The rarely used “temporary residence permits,” which are valid for up to three years, would allow the detainees to bypass the backlogged refugee process.
Human-rights activists say Kenney, who meets regularly with members of Canada’s Uyghur community, seems to be sympathetic to the 17 who remain imprisoned in Cuba despite being cleared of posing a terrorist threat to the United States.
“Jason Kenney is quite keen on the Uyghurs,” said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
The minister meets every few months with Mehmet Tohti of the Uyghur Canadian Society in Toronto, most recently in late January, when they discussed Canada accepting a few Guantanamo detainees now that President Barack Obama has ordered the prison’s closure.
Tohti said he hopes the issue will be on the table when Obama comes to Canada on Feb. 19 to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“I’m hoping President Obama will bring up this issue and I really hope the Canadian government will give them a positive answer,” Tohti said in an interview earlier this week.
He declined further comment Wednesday, writing in an e-mail that “there is urgent need of cooling down the heat” for fear of jeopardizing the Uyghurs’ chances.
“I have sensed that there is mounted pressure on the government by pro-China blocks,” he wrote.
A U.S. federal judge last fall ordered the release of the Guantanamo Uyghurs, but no country has been willing to take them, amid calls from China to return them.
China has unsuccessfully pressed the U.S. to repatriate the Uyghurs, saying that they are terrorists who are seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the northwestern part of the country.
The only refugee applicant whose name has been revealed is Anvar (Ali) Hassan, a dissident who fled China to live in Afghanistan in 2001. He was later caught in the hills of Pakistan and handed over to the U.S.
Hassan contends he will be tortured if he is forced to return to China, where authorities assert that the Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo were fighting with the Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Uyghurs’ quest to settle in Canada is complicated by the case of Omar Khadr, a 22-year-old Canadian who has been detained in Guantanamo since 2002 on accusations of lobbing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a battle between al-Qaida fighters and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Harper has been unbending in his refusal to repatriate the Toronto-born Khadr, whose vast and growing network of supporters contends he was a child soldier at the time of his alleged war crime.
There are also several other Guantanamo detainees eyeing Canada for settlement and the federal government has been adamant it will not accept anyone believed to be a threat to the security of Canada.
The special permits that Kenney is considering are reserved for those seeking entry on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, when there is strong belief that they will face a life-threatening situation by returning home. They are political in nature and can be issued even for those who would be otherwise inadmissible under federal immigration laws.
A summary of Hassan’s case, supplied by his lawyers, says that he admitted to military training in Afghanistan, but that his motivation was “to fight the oppressive Chinese government.”
He says that he was tortured and beaten in prison in China in 1999, where he was held for one month just for being Uyghur.
Amnesty International held a news conference Wednesday calling on Harper to bring Khadr home and to offer resettlement to all 17 Guantanamo Uyghurs.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Source
By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News ServiceFebruary 4, 2009 6:01 PM
A file photo shows detainees sitting in a holding area watched by military police at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at the possibility of accepting several Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay.
A file photo shows detainees sitting in a holding area watched by military police at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2002. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at the possibility of accepting several Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay.
Photograph by: Reuters, Canwest News Service
OTTAWA - Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is looking at the possibility of accepting several Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay, without setting a precedent for several other detainees at the U.S. military camp who would like to settle in Canada.
Among other things, Kenney is contemplating whether to issue special ministerial permits for three ethnic Uyghurs who have applied to settle in Canada with the backing of Canadian sponsors, Canwest News Service has learned.
The rarely used “temporary residence permits,” which are valid for up to three years, would allow the detainees to bypass the backlogged refugee process.
Human-rights activists say Kenney, who meets regularly with members of Canada’s Uyghur community, seems to be sympathetic to the 17 who remain imprisoned in Cuba despite being cleared of posing a terrorist threat to the United States.
“Jason Kenney is quite keen on the Uyghurs,” said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees.
The minister meets every few months with Mehmet Tohti of the Uyghur Canadian Society in Toronto, most recently in late January, when they discussed Canada accepting a few Guantanamo detainees now that President Barack Obama has ordered the prison’s closure.
Tohti said he hopes the issue will be on the table when Obama comes to Canada on Feb. 19 to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“I’m hoping President Obama will bring up this issue and I really hope the Canadian government will give them a positive answer,” Tohti said in an interview earlier this week.
He declined further comment Wednesday, writing in an e-mail that “there is urgent need of cooling down the heat” for fear of jeopardizing the Uyghurs’ chances.
“I have sensed that there is mounted pressure on the government by pro-China blocks,” he wrote.
A U.S. federal judge last fall ordered the release of the Guantanamo Uyghurs, but no country has been willing to take them, amid calls from China to return them.
China has unsuccessfully pressed the U.S. to repatriate the Uyghurs, saying that they are terrorists who are seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the northwestern part of the country.
The only refugee applicant whose name has been revealed is Anvar (Ali) Hassan, a dissident who fled China to live in Afghanistan in 2001. He was later caught in the hills of Pakistan and handed over to the U.S.
Hassan contends he will be tortured if he is forced to return to China, where authorities assert that the Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo were fighting with the Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Uyghurs’ quest to settle in Canada is complicated by the case of Omar Khadr, a 22-year-old Canadian who has been detained in Guantanamo since 2002 on accusations of lobbing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a battle between al-Qaida fighters and U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Harper has been unbending in his refusal to repatriate the Toronto-born Khadr, whose vast and growing network of supporters contends he was a child soldier at the time of his alleged war crime.
There are also several other Guantanamo detainees eyeing Canada for settlement and the federal government has been adamant it will not accept anyone believed to be a threat to the security of Canada.
The special permits that Kenney is considering are reserved for those seeking entry on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, when there is strong belief that they will face a life-threatening situation by returning home. They are political in nature and can be issued even for those who would be otherwise inadmissible under federal immigration laws.
A summary of Hassan’s case, supplied by his lawyers, says that he admitted to military training in Afghanistan, but that his motivation was “to fight the oppressive Chinese government.”
He says that he was tortured and beaten in prison in China in 1999, where he was held for one month just for being Uyghur.
Amnesty International held a news conference Wednesday calling on Harper to bring Khadr home and to offer resettlement to all 17 Guantanamo Uyghurs.
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
Source
MEPs urge EU Guantanamo promise
MEPs urge EU Guantanamo promise
US military guards escort a Guantanamo detainee (6 December 2006)
The US has 50 to 60 detainees whom it has been unable to repatriate
The European Parliament has urged EU member states to help the US shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp by accepting some detainees.
A resolution on Guantanamo was passed by a large majority of MEPs - 542 for, 55 against and 51 abstentions.
It called for EU states to accept low-risk prisoners who cannot be sent home for fear they might be mistreated.
"Europe cannot stand back and shrug its shoulders," said the Liberal bloc's leader, Graham Watson, during a debate.
US President Barack Obama has signed an order to shut Guantanamo within a year.
Last week, EU foreign ministers said they wanted to help on humanitarian grounds, but could not act until the US demonstrated the prisoners did not pose a credible security risk.
Albania is the only country to have so far accepted Guantanamo detainees on humanitarian grounds, taking in five members of China's Uighur ethnic minority in 2006.
EU 'complicit'
MEPs discussed the closure of Guantanamo and the fate of its detainees in a parliamentary debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday, before Wednesday's vote.
Graham Watson MEP said the EU must not "stand back and shrug its shoulders and say these things are for America alone to sort out".
Guantanamo Bay prison camp (7 December 2006)
The prison camp was set up in 2002 to hold "enemy combatants"
Q&A: Closing Guantanamo
'Struggle' over Guantanamo
Euroblog: EU considers response
One of the lessons to be learned from the era of former US President George W Bush was that "in the administration of international justice, the go-it-alone mentality ends in a cul-de-sac of failure", he said.
"Too often member states from our union were complicit in what the Bush administration did," he added, apparently referring to allegations that member states helped the CIA carry out extraordinary renditions of terrorism suspects.
However, conservatives in the EPP-ED coalition warned that resettling detainees could entail risks for Europeans and that security concerns had to be given priority.
"Many past and present detainees were trained in terror camps in Afghanistan," said EPP-ED vice-chairman Hartmut Nassauer. "These people are potential terrorists and we have a duty to protect Europe's citizens."
The US has said there are 50 to 60 so-called "hard cases" at Guantanamo, including several Chinese Uighurs, whom it has been unable to repatriate because of concerns over what might happen to them if they were repatriated. Libyan, Uzbek and Algerian detainees are also said to be at risk.
Voluntary arrangements
Clive Stafford Smith of the legal charity Reprieve, which has represented many of the detainees, argues that having criticised Guantanamo for so long, Europe now needs to be part of the solution.
It would be sort of hypocritical for us now in Europe to say these are American problems... and refuse to reciprocate in trying to solve what is a problem for everyone
Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve
"You know when America held people in Guantanamo and said they had no legal rights, we as European said they were humans and had human rights," he told the BBC.
"It would be sort of hypocritical for us now in Europe to say these are American problems, not human problems, and refuse to reciprocate in trying to solve what is a problem for everyone."
The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Strasbourg says there is also the pressing issue of the rehabilitation of men who have spent up to seven years in a high-security prison.
A task force in the US has 30 days to recommend where the 245 remaining detainees should go - so far no formal request has been made of the EU.
Countries like Portugal and the UK want to send a positive message to the Obama administration, our correspondent says.
Others like the Netherlands are more reluctant - arguing an American problem needs an American solutin
Source
US military guards escort a Guantanamo detainee (6 December 2006)
The US has 50 to 60 detainees whom it has been unable to repatriate
The European Parliament has urged EU member states to help the US shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp by accepting some detainees.
A resolution on Guantanamo was passed by a large majority of MEPs - 542 for, 55 against and 51 abstentions.
It called for EU states to accept low-risk prisoners who cannot be sent home for fear they might be mistreated.
"Europe cannot stand back and shrug its shoulders," said the Liberal bloc's leader, Graham Watson, during a debate.
US President Barack Obama has signed an order to shut Guantanamo within a year.
Last week, EU foreign ministers said they wanted to help on humanitarian grounds, but could not act until the US demonstrated the prisoners did not pose a credible security risk.
Albania is the only country to have so far accepted Guantanamo detainees on humanitarian grounds, taking in five members of China's Uighur ethnic minority in 2006.
EU 'complicit'
MEPs discussed the closure of Guantanamo and the fate of its detainees in a parliamentary debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday, before Wednesday's vote.
Graham Watson MEP said the EU must not "stand back and shrug its shoulders and say these things are for America alone to sort out".
Guantanamo Bay prison camp (7 December 2006)
The prison camp was set up in 2002 to hold "enemy combatants"
Q&A: Closing Guantanamo
'Struggle' over Guantanamo
Euroblog: EU considers response
One of the lessons to be learned from the era of former US President George W Bush was that "in the administration of international justice, the go-it-alone mentality ends in a cul-de-sac of failure", he said.
"Too often member states from our union were complicit in what the Bush administration did," he added, apparently referring to allegations that member states helped the CIA carry out extraordinary renditions of terrorism suspects.
However, conservatives in the EPP-ED coalition warned that resettling detainees could entail risks for Europeans and that security concerns had to be given priority.
"Many past and present detainees were trained in terror camps in Afghanistan," said EPP-ED vice-chairman Hartmut Nassauer. "These people are potential terrorists and we have a duty to protect Europe's citizens."
The US has said there are 50 to 60 so-called "hard cases" at Guantanamo, including several Chinese Uighurs, whom it has been unable to repatriate because of concerns over what might happen to them if they were repatriated. Libyan, Uzbek and Algerian detainees are also said to be at risk.
Voluntary arrangements
Clive Stafford Smith of the legal charity Reprieve, which has represented many of the detainees, argues that having criticised Guantanamo for so long, Europe now needs to be part of the solution.
It would be sort of hypocritical for us now in Europe to say these are American problems... and refuse to reciprocate in trying to solve what is a problem for everyone
Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve
"You know when America held people in Guantanamo and said they had no legal rights, we as European said they were humans and had human rights," he told the BBC.
"It would be sort of hypocritical for us now in Europe to say these are American problems, not human problems, and refuse to reciprocate in trying to solve what is a problem for everyone."
The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Strasbourg says there is also the pressing issue of the rehabilitation of men who have spent up to seven years in a high-security prison.
A task force in the US has 30 days to recommend where the 245 remaining detainees should go - so far no formal request has been made of the EU.
Countries like Portugal and the UK want to send a positive message to the Obama administration, our correspondent says.
Others like the Netherlands are more reluctant - arguing an American problem needs an American solutin
Source
Amnesty urges PM to press Obama for Khadr return
Amnesty urges PM to press Obama for Khadr return
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 | 1:29 PM ET Comments39Recommend20
CBC News
Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada holds a signed petition requesting Omar Khadr be repatriated following a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday. Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada holds a signed petition requesting Omar Khadr be repatriated following a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Amnesty International is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to push U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Ottawa later this month for the repatriation of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as offer to resettle at least 18 other detainees in Canada.
In a letter released on Wednesday, the human rights group appeals to the prime minister to "make firm offers" to Obama on Feb. 19 for Canada to take in 17 Uyghur Muslims from China being held at the U.S. naval base, despite no longer being considered "enemy combatants."
The letter also calls for Harper to offer resettlement for Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian detainee who once lived in Montreal and whose brother lives in Canada.
Aside from Khadr, the detainees have never been charged with any crime, despite being detained for years, said Alex Neve, the secretary general of the Canadian arm of Amnesty International.
At a news conference in Ottawa, Neve said Canada must be part of the "solution" to the closing down of the detention centre, which he dubbed a "human rights failure."
"Guantanamo Bay is a place where, in the name of security, injustice has reigned," Neve said.
Harper has steadfastly refused to change his government's position on the Khadr case, saying the charges against him are serious and the legal proceedings against him must take their course.
But Neve, whose organization has long demanded Khadr's repatriation, said Wednesday the Conservative government's position "has never been tenable." His group planned to submit to the government a collection of letters, petitions and postcards signed by more than 50,000 Canadians calling for Khadr's return.
"Now with Guantanamo Bay slated to close, there is only one position left for Canada to advance — that Omar Khadr come back to Canada," he said.
Khadr, the only Western citizen remaining in detention at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15.
The 22-year-old remains in legal limbo after all charges against him at the military commissions system were suspended last month at the request of the Obama administration.
Canada could take in 3 Uyghur detainees: report
Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday that 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 three are among six Guantanamo detainees who have recently applied for resettlement in Canada with the help of advocates from Canada's Uyghur community.
Neve called the Globe report "encouraging," but stressed the 14 other detainees also deserve help from Ottawa, as they would face severe persecution if they were returned to China.
"We think it's important that any of that group who would want to come here should be resettled as refugees," he said.
In the case of Ameziane, Neve said he would almost certainly face torture if he was returned to his native Algeria. The Anglican Diocese of Montreal has applied to resettle Ameziane through a refugee sponsor program.
Ameziane, 41, one of the longest-serving inmates at Guantanamo Bay, lived in Montreal for five years until about 2000 when he was denied refugee status in Canada.
His lawyers say it was through sheer bad luck that Ameziane ended up in Afghanistan in 2000, the only country that would accept him without a visa or other paperwork. Ameziane had hoped to settle in Afghanistan and perhaps start a business.
But when military action began in 2001, Ameziane was rounded up by bounty hunters and sold to the United States military as he tried to flee the war-torn country, his lawyers say.
He was subsequently transported to Guantanamo Bay in February 2002. His lawyers say he has been classified as an "enemy combatant" and been detained as a risk to national security.
But they add he is not accused of receiving military or terrorist training, did not take part in any fighting and there is no evidence he was involved in planning or financing terror attacks.
Legal limbo
Amnesty's appeal comes a day after Harper received a letter signed by 185 organizations and prominent Canadians calling on him to repatriate the Toronto-born Khadr.
The letter, released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada, said many Muslims have interpreted Harper's inaction on the Khadr file, especially in light of the highly publicized repatriation of Brenda Martin from Mexico, as a sign his government considers Canadian Muslims to be "second-class citizens."
The letter's signators included Muslim and Jewish organizations, civil liberties groups, as well as individuals such as documentary filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau, son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau; former UN special envoy Stephen Lewis; author Naomi Klein and Maher Arar, a Canadian victim of U.S. rendition.
Obama has signed an executive order to shut down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay within a year and find an alternative to the military commissions process for trying accused terrorists.
The detention centre was set up by the U.S. administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and has been the subject of scorn and outrage from human rights groups and legal observers. Critics had decried the detention of terrorism suspects for years without trial or charges, as well as the use of coercive and secretive interrogation techniques on detainees.
An estimated 245 men are being held at the U.S. naval base.
Source
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 4, 2009 | 1:29 PM ET Comments39Recommend20
CBC News
Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada holds a signed petition requesting Omar Khadr be repatriated following a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday. Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada holds a signed petition requesting Omar Khadr be repatriated following a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Wednesday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Amnesty International is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to push U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Ottawa later this month for the repatriation of Omar Khadr from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as well as offer to resettle at least 18 other detainees in Canada.
In a letter released on Wednesday, the human rights group appeals to the prime minister to "make firm offers" to Obama on Feb. 19 for Canada to take in 17 Uyghur Muslims from China being held at the U.S. naval base, despite no longer being considered "enemy combatants."
The letter also calls for Harper to offer resettlement for Djamel Ameziane, an Algerian detainee who once lived in Montreal and whose brother lives in Canada.
Aside from Khadr, the detainees have never been charged with any crime, despite being detained for years, said Alex Neve, the secretary general of the Canadian arm of Amnesty International.
At a news conference in Ottawa, Neve said Canada must be part of the "solution" to the closing down of the detention centre, which he dubbed a "human rights failure."
"Guantanamo Bay is a place where, in the name of security, injustice has reigned," Neve said.
Harper has steadfastly refused to change his government's position on the Khadr case, saying the charges against him are serious and the legal proceedings against him must take their course.
But Neve, whose organization has long demanded Khadr's repatriation, said Wednesday the Conservative government's position "has never been tenable." His group planned to submit to the government a collection of letters, petitions and postcards signed by more than 50,000 Canadians calling for Khadr's return.
"Now with Guantanamo Bay slated to close, there is only one position left for Canada to advance — that Omar Khadr come back to Canada," he said.
Khadr, the only Western citizen remaining in detention at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15.
The 22-year-old remains in legal limbo after all charges against him at the military commissions system were suspended last month at the request of the Obama administration.
Canada could take in 3 Uyghur detainees: report
Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday that 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 three are among six Guantanamo detainees who have recently applied for resettlement in Canada with the help of advocates from Canada's Uyghur community.
Neve called the Globe report "encouraging," but stressed the 14 other detainees also deserve help from Ottawa, as they would face severe persecution if they were returned to China.
"We think it's important that any of that group who would want to come here should be resettled as refugees," he said.
In the case of Ameziane, Neve said he would almost certainly face torture if he was returned to his native Algeria. The Anglican Diocese of Montreal has applied to resettle Ameziane through a refugee sponsor program.
Ameziane, 41, one of the longest-serving inmates at Guantanamo Bay, lived in Montreal for five years until about 2000 when he was denied refugee status in Canada.
His lawyers say it was through sheer bad luck that Ameziane ended up in Afghanistan in 2000, the only country that would accept him without a visa or other paperwork. Ameziane had hoped to settle in Afghanistan and perhaps start a business.
But when military action began in 2001, Ameziane was rounded up by bounty hunters and sold to the United States military as he tried to flee the war-torn country, his lawyers say.
He was subsequently transported to Guantanamo Bay in February 2002. His lawyers say he has been classified as an "enemy combatant" and been detained as a risk to national security.
But they add he is not accused of receiving military or terrorist training, did not take part in any fighting and there is no evidence he was involved in planning or financing terror attacks.
Legal limbo
Amnesty's appeal comes a day after Harper received a letter signed by 185 organizations and prominent Canadians calling on him to repatriate the Toronto-born Khadr.
The letter, released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada, said many Muslims have interpreted Harper's inaction on the Khadr file, especially in light of the highly publicized repatriation of Brenda Martin from Mexico, as a sign his government considers Canadian Muslims to be "second-class citizens."
The letter's signators included Muslim and Jewish organizations, civil liberties groups, as well as individuals such as documentary filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau, son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau; former UN special envoy Stephen Lewis; author Naomi Klein and Maher Arar, a Canadian victim of U.S. rendition.
Obama has signed an executive order to shut down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay within a year and find an alternative to the military commissions process for trying accused terrorists.
The detention centre was set up by the U.S. administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and has been the subject of scorn and outrage from human rights groups and legal observers. Critics had decried the detention of terrorism suspects for years without trial or charges, as well as the use of coercive and secretive interrogation techniques on detainees.
An estimated 245 men are being held at the U.S. naval base.
Source
Canada could take some Guanatanamo Uighurs: report
Canada could take some Guanatanamo Uighurs: report
Wed Feb 4, 2009 10:02am EST
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada could accept three Chinese Moslem Uighur men who are imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba but have been cleared for release, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday.
There are a total of 17 Uighurs in the prison. Although no longer considered "enemy combatants," they are still at Guantanamo because the United States has been unable to find a country willing to take them.
The Globe said Uighur human rights activist Mehmet Tohti met with senior government officials -- including Immigration Minister Jason Kenney -- on Jan 23 and urged them to accept the three men.
"There was a positive consensus ... They were not against it," the paper quoted him as saying. New U.S. President Barack Obama -- who will visit Canada on February 19 -- wants Guantanamo closed within a year.
Tohti could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Kenney said he was unable to discuss specific cases.
In 2006, the United States allowed five Chinese Muslims released from Guantanamo to go to Albania. The U.S. government has said it cannot return the Uighurs to China because they would face persecution there.
Many Muslim Uighurs, who are from Xinjiang in far western China, seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence. Beijing has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.
If Canada did accept the Uighurs, it would focus even more attention on the case of Canadian Omar Khadr -- the only Westerner still imprisoned in Guantanamo.
Opposition legislators and human rights activists say Ottawa should press Washington for the return of Khadr, who was captured at age 15 and is accused of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002.
Canada's Conservative government has so far refused to act, saying Khadr faces serious charges. Khadr's trial was halted last month after Obama took power.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Peter Galloway)
Source
Wed Feb 4, 2009 10:02am EST
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada could accept three Chinese Moslem Uighur men who are imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba but have been cleared for release, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday.
There are a total of 17 Uighurs in the prison. Although no longer considered "enemy combatants," they are still at Guantanamo because the United States has been unable to find a country willing to take them.
The Globe said Uighur human rights activist Mehmet Tohti met with senior government officials -- including Immigration Minister Jason Kenney -- on Jan 23 and urged them to accept the three men.
"There was a positive consensus ... They were not against it," the paper quoted him as saying. New U.S. President Barack Obama -- who will visit Canada on February 19 -- wants Guantanamo closed within a year.
Tohti could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesman for Kenney said he was unable to discuss specific cases.
In 2006, the United States allowed five Chinese Muslims released from Guantanamo to go to Albania. The U.S. government has said it cannot return the Uighurs to China because they would face persecution there.
Many Muslim Uighurs, who are from Xinjiang in far western China, seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence. Beijing has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.
If Canada did accept the Uighurs, it would focus even more attention on the case of Canadian Omar Khadr -- the only Westerner still imprisoned in Guantanamo.
Opposition legislators and human rights activists say Ottawa should press Washington for the return of Khadr, who was captured at age 15 and is accused of murdering a U.S. soldier with a grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002.
Canada's Conservative government has so far refused to act, saying Khadr faces serious charges. Khadr's trial was halted last month after Obama took power.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Peter Galloway)
Source
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