Chinese Uighurs Should Be Released From Guantanamo

Our colleague Deborah Colson has a blog up at The Hill expressing deep disappointment at the ruling this week by the D.C. Circuit reversing Judge Ricardo Urbina’s October 2008 decision ordering the U.S. government to release the 17 Uighers imprisoned at Guantanamo into the United States. The Uighers have been held without charge in Guantanamo for nearly seven years despite the government’s inability to put forth any evidence against them, and even the Bush Administration acknowledged that they are “no longer” enemy combatants.

So why not resettle them here in the United States? President Obama is unlikely to succeed in closing Guantanamo without the cooperation of other countries. Resettling the Uighers in the United States would send an important message and increase the likelihood that other countries will accept some Guantanamo prisoners themselves. The D.C. Circuit ruling underscores the need for President Obama to act quickly.