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313 7 Leaving Guantánamo The obstacles to leaving Guantánamo are tremendous, even for those prisoners whom the United States says it no longer wishes to detain. For example, many detainees who have been cleared for release still remain at Guantánamo, facing a seemingly endless cycle of failed efforts to repatriate them. Other detainees who have been released continue to face hardship and in some cases imprisonment in a new country. And even those fortunate enough to have been returned home continue to suffer the effects of years of unlawful detention and separation. Stuck in Limbo One of Guantánamo’s singular failings is how it handles prisoners who cannot safely be returned home or for whom there is no longer a home after years of unlawful imprisonment. Men who the U.S. government concedes are innocent or present no threat thus remain at Guantánamo year after year because the United States refuses to allow them to live temporarily in its country after imprisoning them by mistake and branding them “terrorists,” so other countries are fearful of accepting them. The United States has also persisted in trying to send prisoners it has “cleared for release” home even though their return would probably result in their torture or continued detention. In some instances, it has simply dumped prisoners in third countries with which the prisoners have no ties and whose language they do not even speak. Elizabeth Gilson: Looking for a Home In spring 2007, I got a notice that the military had cleared my clients Arkin and Bahtiyar (and the other Uighurs) for release but that it still considered them “enemy combatants.” Try finding asylum for enemy combatants. The U.S. government has acknowledged that they will be in danger of torture or death if they are sent back to China. However, every country that has been approached diplomatically has been unwilling to help the United States solve the Uighur problem at the risk of jeopardizing their relations with the 314 Leaving Guantánamo Chinese government. So I, and other Uighur counsel, continue to work on legal , legislative, and diplomatic fronts to try to find a place for these men. The government has since admitted that it detained the Uighurs by mistake, but it nevertheless continues to hold them at Guantánamo until a home may be found. Kent Spriggs: The Tallahassee Uighur Settlement Project The Uighurs are an ethnic group of about twenty million persons in Xinjiang, a province in the extreme west of China. That they are Muslims and have aspirations of independence from China has led to their being treated in a very hostile manner by the Chinese government. Substantial numbers have fled from China as a result of persecution. Twenty-two men who had been in a refugee camp in Afghanistan when the U.S.-led invasion commenced in the fall of 2001 were picked up and taken to Guantánamo. Under international law, the United States cannot repatriate persons to countries that it believes will torture them. Five of the twenty-two Uighurs were subsequently sent to Albania after several years of incarceration. In late August 2007, there was a hearing before District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina on the habeas corpus cases of the seventeen Uighurs who remained at Guantánamo. The judge indicated that he believed he had the power to release the Uighurs into the United States as a part of his habeas jurisdiction. At that point, realizing that the Uighurs might be released into the States, an “APB” went out among the GTMO habeas lawyers asking for communities that could settle some of the men. Tallahassee, Florida, was a natural fit. The community had experience in settling refugees. I was deeply involved as a GTMO habeas lawyer, knew the general story of the Uighurs, and had a sense of the people to contact to put together a plan. I called Brant Copeland, pastor of First Presbyterian Church. He had convened an interdenominational forum in the days after 9/11. It was clear that he was the kind of person who would be invaluable in putting together a plan. He spoke of the value of multiple clergy involvement to set the proper social context. I suggested that he do that in writing. As the cochair of Tallahassee Clergy, a large group of progressive religious leaders, he said he could e-mail them. We drafted a statement through which the clergy would welcome the Uighurs and pledge to urge their congregations...

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