June, 15 2009, 10:46am EDT
Constitution Project Applauds Bermuda for Welcoming Uighurs
The Department of Justice announced late last week that four of the 17
Chinese Muslims--known as Uighurs--were released from detention at
Guantanamo Bay and settled in the nation of Bermuda. The Constitution
Project welcomes their release and applauds the government of Bermuda
for its willingness to accept the four men and end their detention.
WASHINGTON
The Department of Justice announced late last week that four of the 17
Chinese Muslims--known as Uighurs--were released from detention at
Guantanamo Bay and settled in the nation of Bermuda. The Constitution
Project welcomes their release and applauds the government of Bermuda
for its willingness to accept the four men and end their detention.
The
Uighurs have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years. They have
been found by the United States government not to be "enemy
combatants," therefore posing no threat to the United States, but their
detention continued nonetheless. Last week, accounts indicated that
their unlawful detention might soon end. In addition to the Bermuda
settlement, the island nation of Palau has also expressed a willingness
to accept some of the Uighurs. The details of a possible Palau
settlement have yet to be made public by the Obama administration.
The following can be attributed to Sharon Bradford Franklin, Constitution Project Senior Counsel:
"The
unlawful detention of the 17 Uighurs has gone on far too long. The
nation of Bermuda and Premier Ewart Brown deserve praise for their
willingness to accept these four men, providing them their long-overdue
freedom. We hope that this development will provide momentum for
additional settlements - possibly in the nation of Palau.
"Conservatives
and liberals both recognize the need to end the Uighurs' detention
after having been declared not to pose a threat to the United States.
Once that distinction was made, their continued detention flaunted the
rule of law and ignored our nation's commitments to the Constitution.
We hope that the remaining 13 will soon be released."
The
Constitution Project and nine prominent conservatives released a
statement three weeks ago calling for the release and settlement of the
Uighurs in the United States. To see the statement, go to:
https://www.constitutionproject.org/manage/file/152.pdf
The
Constitution Project, along with the Brennan Center for Justice, the
Rutherford Institute, the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers, and the City of New York Bar Association, filed a friend of
the court brief in the Supreme Court on May 7, urging the Court to
accept review of the Uighur's case seeking release from Guantanamo now
that they have been recognized not to be enemy combatants. To view the
brief, go to:
https://www.constitutionproject.org/manage/file/145.pdf
The Constitution Project is a politically independent think tank established in 1997 to promote and defend constitutional safeguards. More information about the Constitution Project is available at https://constitutionproject.org/.
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