RFA News: Four Uyghur Detainees Realeased in Bermuda

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2009--Four men belonging to the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group and held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay for more than seven years have been released and landed early Thursday in Bermuda, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports. The four men, part of a larger group of 17 Uyghurs detained after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, landed on the tiny North Atlantic island at about 5:30 a.m., according to Ilshat Helenian, vice president of the Uyghur American Association. The four released men were identified as Abdulla Abduqadir, 30; Helil Mamut, 31; Ablikim Turahun, 38; and Salahidin Ablehet, 32. The location of the remaining 13 Uyghurs wasn't immediately clear. Most of the 17 Muslims from China's remote northwestern Xinjiang province held at the controversial detention facility for suspected terrorists were cleared more than four years ago of being "enemy combatants." The Uyghurs were living in a self-contained camp in Afghanistan when the U.S.-led bombing campaign began in October 2001 as part of the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. They fled to the mountains, but were turned over to Pakistani authorities, who then handed them over to the United States. The Chinese government says the men are members of the outlawed East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which Beijing and Washington regard as a terrorist organization. Beijing blames ETIM for a series of violent attacks inside China in recent years. Rights advocates argued against returning them to China for fear they would face torture there. Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to engnews-join(a)rfanews.org ##### Sarah Jackson-Han News Director, English Radio Free Asia (RFA) jacksonhans(a)rfa.org 202 530 7774 w 202 907 4613 m