October 15, 2008 Ricardo Urbina
Sure, we're all worried about the economy lately, but there's a story you may have missed about an even more important element of American currency worldwide: liberty. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina made history last week when he ruled that 17 Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, that were captured shortly after the commencement of the war in Afghanistan should be released from the U.S. detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This is not the action of an activist judge. In fact, the Justice Department got the ball rolling September 30 by taking Uighurs off the "enemy combatant" list. It logically follows that if someone is not an enemy, they shouldn't be locked up. But that's not what the DOJ wanted. In response to the order, the Justice Department filed for an emergency stay on the ruling. But the DOJ is better at making decrees than following its own logic. In fact, one of their two shaky objections to releasing the Uighurs is the assertion that they pose a risk to U.S. security. However, there's no evidence of their threat to society. And if they were dangerous, wouldn't that make them enemy combatants? Furthermore, if citizens in the D.C. area are willing to take them into their homes in the interim, why should these 17 men remain incarcerated? The reason these people are still in Cuba is that the U.S. government has acknowledged that they would face torture if they were returned to their home country. Most countries are unwilling to take them in, afraid of angering China. But, since when does America let China tell us what to do? The Washington Post's John Pomfret, after dismissing fears about the Uighurs by calling them the most "pro-American" group he's come across, supposes on his blog about China that it probably has more to do with Iraq than Afghanistan:
The second objection from the Justice Department was that the act of a judge ordering the release clashed with separation-of-powers rules. But Judge Urbina saw that argument coming, noting in his original ruling that "separation-of-powers concerns do not trump the very principle upon which this nation was founded: the unalienable right to liberty." Furthermore, there are indications that these men may have been used by the Pakistani government as pawns to raise revenues. One Uighur who has since been released to Albania from Guantánamo, wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times that U.S. security forces paid the Pakistani government for prisoners:
In fact, the former president of Pakistan has reportedly wrote in his memoir about selling supposed combatants to U.S. security forces. Amnesty International has denounced China's use of the specter of terrorism to persecute, torture, and kill Chinese Muslims. Just because China isn't tolerant of a certain religious group and decides to use the catch-all word "terrorist" to marginalize them, doesn't mean they deserve to be locked up at Gitmo for seven years. We want to honor a judge for being brave enough to stand up and point out the convoluted logic of a U.S. Department of Justice that would willfully lock up people who mean no harm to this country. By extension, we wish to recognize the efforts of the lawyers representing these prisoners, as well as the families in Washington who have offered their homes and companionship to men who have known neither in solitary confinement for years. For that, we gladly offer up this week's BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award. * * * Nominated by the BuzzFlash staff.
HONOREES | NOMINATE | ABOUT | HOME Wings of Justice is a project of BuzzFlash.com.
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