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Uighur Guantanamo detainees seek remand to district court for new trial

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

[JURIST] Lawyers for seven Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay filed a motion Thursday to remand proceedings from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The motion comes just days after the US Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reconsider the case of Kiyemba v. Obama in light of the fact that each of the remaining Uighurs has received an offer of resettlement by another country. The detainees' counsel argues that additional fact-finding at the district court level is necessary in light of the resettlement offers. The circuit court has yet to take any action on the case. Of the 22 Uighurs originally detained at Guantanamo Bay, 17 have accepted offers of relocation to other countries. Six Uighurs were transferred to Palau, four to Bermuda, five to Albania, and two, still in US custody, have accepted offers of resettlement to Switzerland. Palau announced it would accept the remaining five Uighurs, but the detainees subsequently rejected the offers. China considers the Uighurs to be terrorists, raising concerns in the Obama administration that the prisoners will be tortured if repatriated.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).