Uighur Prisoners Fear for Their Safety in Palau

By Jeremy Scahill

One of the consequences of the imprisonment of the Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, at Guantanamo for seven years is that these 17 men are now publicly identified by China as enemies of the state. The US allowed Chinese operatives to interrogate the men at Guantanamo, where Chinese operatives allegedly made threats against the men and their families in China. The lawyers for the Uighur prisoners wanted the men to be allowed to settle in the US for various reasons, among them their safety from the Chinese government. A community in Virginia offered to take the men in, but both Democrats and Republicans opposed this move, characterizing the men as terrorists or security threats. The Obama administration refused to allow them to enter the US.

While some media outlets have characterized the Uighurs as “living it up” on an island paradise—and President Obama recently made jokes about them and Palau—the Uighurs do not see their likely move to Palau as a any kind of a vacation.

This from the Associated Press:

Some Chinese Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay who have been offered resettlement in Palau are leery of moving to the tiny Pacific island nation for fear that it cannot protect them from China, Palau’s president said Tuesday.

[…]

Stevenson Kuartei, a Palauan physician who evaluated the detainees’ medical condition in Guantanamo, said detention appears to have taken a mental toll…

“There’s something that’s making them feel like they are in detention regardless of the fence,” Mr. Kuartei said. “In coming to Palau, they still feel like it would be detention.”

For an excellent run-down on the latest developments with the recently released Uighur men, read Liliana Segura’s recent story at AlterNet.