|
Colin Powell Confirms
Uyghurs Will Not Be Returned to China; UHRP/UAA Hails
Decision
(Washington, D.C.) Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP)
and the Uyghur American Association has learned that
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has confirmed that
the US government has decided not to return 22 Uyghur
detainees, currently held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
back to China. “Uyghurs are a difficult problem, and
we are trying to resolve all issues with respect to
all detainees at Guantanamo. The Uyghurs are not going
back to China,” Powell said today in a meeting with
journalists in Washington, D.C. Powell added that
“Finding places for them is not a simple matter. we
are trying to find places for them, and, of course,
all candidate countries are being looked at.” Powell’s
remarks come on the heels of unconfirmed reports in
June that the US had decided not to return the Uyghurs
to China.
“We are very pleased to receive confirmation of this
decision,” Nury Turkel, President of the Uyghur
American Association, and UHRP Executive Director said.
“If these Uyghurs were returned to China, they would
have been tortured and most likely executed.” Since
the 1990s, several Uyghur refugees have been tortured
and executed upon being returned to China by foreign
governments.
According to Turkel, the decision is also critical to
maintaining US credibility in the eyes of the Uyghurs,
who have been generally sympathetic of the US-led war
on terror. “China would have had a propaganda field
day, which they would have used to demonize the US to
Uyghurs, but instead Uyghurs in East Turkistan have a
renewed sense of hope and optimism,” Turkel said.
Several human rights groups, including Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, and UHRP, and its
parent organization, the Uyghur American Association,
had campaigned on behalf of the 22 Uyghur detainees,
citing a strong possibility that they would face
torture and/or execution if returned to China.
According to UHRP, such a return of the detainees
would violate US and international law.
About UHRP: Founded in 2004 by the Uyghur American
Association, UHRP promotes human rights and democracy
for the Uyghur people.
About UAA: Founded in 1998, UAA is a community
membership organization that represents Uyghurs living
in the United States and promotes human rights and
democracy for the Uyghur people, principally through
UHRP.
|
