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 US discusses with
China, other countries fate of Uighur detainees
Thu May 13, 9:53 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has discussed
with China and other countries the possibility of
accepting several Uighur detainees at the US military
base in Guantanamo Bay due for release soon, the State
Department said.
About a dozen Uighurs are among the hundreds of
detainees held at the Cuban base since the US
intervention in Afghanistan
The Uighurs, among China's dominant Muslim groups and
of Turkic descent, reportedly face harsh religious
restrictions and repression since Chinese authorities
associate the group with separatism and terrorism in
western China.
Human rights and non-governmental groups have urged
Washington not to repatriate them to China as they
could face persecution at home.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that
the authorities were in the process of identifying
Guantanamo detainees who might no longer be of "significant
threat or may not be wanted on criminal charges."
Among them were the Uighurs.
"We've identified some who might be eligible for
release. We're currently considering how that process
can work," he said. "If it's decided that they can,
obviously the situations of individuals need to be
taken into account, including their wishes and their
ability to go to different places.
"We have talked to the Chinese and other governments
about the situation at this point, but don't have
anything definitive yet on the release or where they
might go," Boucher said.
He did not name the other governments which Washington
was talking to over the resettlement of the Uighurs.
Exiled Uighur Muslim groups are seeking to
re-establish an independent East Turkestan in Central
Asia that has existed historically and was established
in the 1940s in the presently Chinese-controlled
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
China considers the groups as terrorist organizations
that should be targeted as part of the international
crackdown on global terrorism.
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