WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately release a small group of Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States.In a landmark decision, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said it would be wrong for the Bush administration to continue holding the detainees, known as Uighurs, since they are no longer considered enemy combatants.
| This just might be the dumbest thing the judiciary has done in a decade. Or three. Can I ask Senator Obama about this tonight at the debate? |
Urbina called the detention unlawful saying the Constitution prohibits indefinite imprisonment without charges.
| It's a brilliant dodge. All a terrorist has to be is nasty enough that no one wants him, and he can live in the U.S. |
In Beijing Tuesday, before Urbina's ruling, the government demanded that all Uighurs held at Guantanamo be repatriated to China. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the Uighurs are suspected of being members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which the United States lists as a terrorist organization. "China has urged the U.S. to repatriate these Chinese terrorist suspects to China on many occasions. We hope the U.S. will take our position seriously and repatriate these persons to China sooner rather than later," he said.
A spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Urbina's order.
Uighurs are from Xinjiang — an isolated region that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan and six Central Asian nations — and say they have been repressed by the Chinese government. China has long said that insurgents are leading an Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang.