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Chinese detainees face
danger
From correspondents in San Juan, Puerto Rico
May 29, 2004
BEHIND coils of razor wire at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
one group of prisoners held by the US military faces a
unique dilemma - if returned to China, human rights
groups warn, they could be tortured or killed.
Some 22 ethnic Uighurs, Muslims from China's desert
north-west, are at the US prison for terror suspects,
Amnesty International said this week.
"They're at grave risk if returned," Alistair Hodgett,
a spokesman for the London-based rights group said
today.
"They are highly likely to face, at a minimum,
continued detention, and very likely to face torture,
ill-treatment and possible execution."
Amnesty also accused China of sending a delegation in
September 2002 that participated in interrogations in
which Uighurs were subjected to threats and "stress
and duress" techniques such as sleep deprivation,
forced sitting for hours and "environmental
manipulation" - which can include extreme heat or cold.
In Beijing, the Chinese government called the claims "totally
groundless".
The US military also denies abuse during
interrogations of the 600 prisoners from about 40
countries at its Navy base in Cuba.
"We don't engage in sleep deprivation or physical
abuse," said spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Robert
Mulac.
Amnesty International said it had confirmed reports
that many Uighurs were in a medium-security prison
wing reserved for the most "cooperative" detainees
deemed not to threaten US interests and most likely to
be freed.
Human rights groups say Uighurs, particularly those
who advocate independence for their north-west
territory of Xinjiang, faced repression from Chinese
authorities who call them terrorists.
China claims it is fighting an Islamic movement linked
to al-Qaeda terrorist network, but diplomats say they
doubt that.
There has been no major separatist violence in recent
years, but Hodgett said they have frequent reports of
beatings, torture and executions of alleged Uighur
separatists.
Hodgett said it was believed the Uighur detainees were
captured during the US war in Afghanistan, though
their role there remains unclear.
"We're very concerned," said Mickey Spiegel of New
York-based Human Rights Watch said of the fate of
Uighur detainees.
"Any kind of forcible repatriation as far as we're
concerned is very much out of the question ...
"The US has a responsibility to see that these people
are not returned to China."
Before a prisoner is returned home, the US State
Department makes recommendations and confers with the
home government, Pentagon spokeswoman Lieutenant
Commander Barbara Burfeind said.
Asked whether possible persecution would be a factor,
she said "that would probably be something that would
be part of those discussions".
The US State Department report on human rights has
cited concerns about repression of suspected Uighur
separatists in China.
Human rights groups suggest any freed Uighurs be
granted asylum in another country, but Spiegel asked
which would accept people once branded terrorists.
"We see it as a dilemma," she said. "What country is
going to be willing to take them?"
The Associated Press
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