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Switzerland to accept 2 Uighur Guantanamo detainees

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Swiss Federal Council announced Wednesday that it would accept two Uighur detainees from Guantanamo Bay. The council decided to admit the detainees for humanitarian reasons, despite the Chinese citizenship of both Uighurs and recent warnings by the Chinese Embassy in Switzerland that Switzerland would jeopardize relations with China by accepting the detainees. After psychological tests and further investigation, the Council concluded that the detainees did not pose a security threat. Authorities from the canton of Jura, where the detainees will be housed, announced Tuesday that it was prepared to issue a residence permit, and the Council has instructed the Federal Office for Migration to approve the permits. Of the 22 Uighurs originally detained at Guantanamo Bay, 15 have been relocated. Six Uighurs were transferred to Palau in October, four were sent to Bermuda last June, and five were received by Albania in 2006. In December, Albania announced that it would not accept any more Uighur detainees in an effort to preserve positive relations with China. In November, four Uighurs at Guantanamo filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, challenging an appellate ruling that prohibited courts from preventing the transfer of detainees to foreign countries for fear of persecution or torture. China has continued to call for repatriation of the Uighur detainees that Chinese authorities consider to be part of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant group that calls for separation from China and which has been a US-designated terrorist group since 2002. The US has previously rejected China's calls to repatriate the Uighurs, citing fear of torture upon their return.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 03, 2010 (boomark / email).