Yesterday’s victory for the 17 prisoners at Guantanamo did not last long. According to a report from the BBC
An US federal appeal court has blocked a judge’s order that 17 Chinese detainees at the Guantanamo Bay camp should immediately be released.
A district court had said it was wrong for the Bush administration to continue holding the Chinese Muslim Uighurs, as it had no evidence against them.
The White House then appealed, saying the original ruling – the first of its kind – could set a dangerous precedent.
Captured in Afghanistan in 2001, the group has been held without charge.
Under the original ruling, they were to be brought to court on Friday, and then freed to stay with members of the Uighur community in the Washington area.
The appeal court ruling puts a temporary halt to the release to allow lawyers for both sides to present further arguments over the coming week.
Since 2004 the Uighurs (17 Chinese Muslims) have been cleared to be released from Guantanamo. However, for fear that these 17 Chinese Muslims would be persecuted and imprisoned if returned to China, the U.S. has continued to hold these men as prisoners in Guantanamo. Does anyone see any irony in this situation? Prison in China vs. prison in Guantanamo.
The Bush administration argues that allowing these “enemy combatants” to be allowed into the U.S. would set a precident and could prove to be a security risk.
The Bush administration has maintained that if they cannot be returned home and no other country will take them, they should stay at Guantanamo.
It seems that Guantanamo is the default home for Bush screw-ups.
This is yet another disgrace for the Bush administration and another blight on America’s face. We can only hope that within the next couple of weeks, justice will be served. Guantanamo cannot continue to exist as an offshore holding pen where the present adminstration places its human mistakes. For all the talk of human rights, for all the demands our nation places countries who fall short of treating its citizens with human dignity, the Bush administration has shown that it is not above creating human autrocities of its own.
The time has come to tear down Guantanamo. Now!
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