Switzerland to Accept Two Uighur Brothers from Guantanamo

Lawyers for two Uighur brothers imprisoned by the U.S. Government at
Guantanamo Bay since 2002 announced today that the men would soon be
living free in the Swiss Canton (state) of Jura.

Lawyer Elizabeth Gilson, who has been working with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) to
free the men for nearly five years, said, "We are so grateful to the
Swiss people for providing this tremendous victory in the cause of
justice by giving a homeland to these two innocent men."

The Swiss Federal Council voted this morning to take in the two
brothers. The Chinese government had objected strenuously to the move,
arguing that the men should be returned to China. Although it refuses
to provide the Uighur prisoners sanctuary in the U.S. mainland, the
U.S. government nevertheless has refused to return them to China, out
of fear that they will be tortured or killed. At the same time, the
United States has been pressing Switzerland and other allies to help
empty the prison at Guantanamo Bay. At a press conference this
afternoon in Bern, Swiss Minister of Justice Evelyn Widmer-Schlumpf
said, "Switzerland's decision to take in the ethnic Uighur brothers was
guided by humanitarian principles and should not be interpreted as
giving preference to one country over another."

Justice Minister Widmer-Schlumpf specifically commended the efforts of
Ms. Gilson, who just completed a week-long media tour in Switzerland
designed to tell the Swiss people about her clients and why the Swiss
should give them a home. "These men have been told for nearly eight
years that they didn't belong in Guantanamo. They were brought there
after Pakistani villagers kidnapped and sold them for substantial
bounty payments offered by the U.S. All they want now, after all these
years, is to live peacefully in a democratic country where they will be
safe," said Gilson.

The two brothers are among seven Uighurs who remain incarcerated at
Guantanamo. The U.S. government acknowledged that there were no grounds
to hold the men during court proceedings in October 2008. More than 100
nations have been approached, and most have thus far been unwilling to
take the Uighur prisoners, presumably out of fear of angering China.
Despite pressure from the communist Chinese, five of the Uighur
prisoners were released to Albania in 2006, and four to Bermuda in
2009. All are living peaceful and productive lives. Six more have
temporarily been relocated to the tiny island nation of Palau, where
they are awaiting resettlement in a third country.

CCR has led the legal battle over Guantanamo for the last eight years -
sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and sending the
first attorney to meet with a former CIA "ghost detainee" there. CCR
has been responsible for organizing and coordinating more than 500 pro
bono lawyers across the country in order to represent the men at
Guantanamo, ensuring that nearly all have the option of legal
representation. In addition, CCR has been working to resettle the
approximately 50 men who remain at Guantanamo because they cannot
return to their country of origin for fear of persecution and torture.