USA: Washington defends decision to release Uyghurs
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 3 January 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, USA: Washington defends decision to release Uyghurs, 3 January 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52e65ab33.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
January 03, 2014
The United States has defended the sending of the last three Uyghur Chinese inmates at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to Slovakia.
"The U.S. government long ago determined that it did not seek to detain these individuals, the Uyghurs, as enemy combatants. And in 2008 these latest ones that were released were among 17 Uyghur detainees ordered released from Guantanamo by a U.S. Federal Court," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf explained to reporters in Washington on January 2.
China's Foreign Ministry has criticized the United States, saying they were "terrorists" who posed a real security danger.
Most of the Uyghurs at Guantanamo were captured near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in late 2001, and were believed to have trained with the Taliban.
But U.S. officials have deemed they pose no threat to the United States.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
