• by Marina Litvinsky (washington)
• Wednesday, June 10, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Every September, most of the world's political leaders make their annual pilgrimage to New York to address the General Assembly sessions of the United Nations.

In a statement released to the Associated Press on Wednesday, Palau President Johnson Toribiong said his government had 'agreed to accommodate the United States of America's request to temporarily resettle in Palau up to 17 ethnic Uighur detainees... subject to periodic review.'

'Palau’s accommodation to accept the temporary resettlement of these detainees is a humanitarian gesture intended to help them be freed of any further unnecessary incarceration and to restart their lives in as normal a fashion as possible,' Toribiong said.

Details of the transfer are still being worked out, Palau’s ambassador to the U.S., Hersey Kyota, told CNN.

Amnesty International said the announcement 'leaves open many questions in terms of the future of these men.'

'We feel that the detainees should be sent to places that are appropriate for them and their wishes should be taken into account,' a spokesperson told IPS. 'We don’t know if that is the case with Palau.'

A senior government official told the Associated Foreign Press (AFP) on condition of anonymity that the United States 'greatly appreciates' Palau's offer to temporarily resettle the Uighurs who remain at the U.S. prison camp despite their being cleared of wrongdoing.

But he added there has been 'no final decision, no details arranged. We will continue talks with Palau.'

If the deal goes through it will be the largest single transfer of Guantanamo prisoners and the first major deal on detainees since U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to close the prison in January. Resettlement of the detainees has been one of the major obstacles to closing the prison.

The 17 Uighurs, a minority ethnic group from China, were accused of receiving weapons and military training in Afghanistan. Last fall, a federal district court ordered that they be released in the U.S. and an appeals court overturned the ruling. They have been held as 'non-combatants' at the Guantanamo Bay prison since then.

Washington said it would not hand the Uighurs to China, which has demanded for their return, for fear that they would be persecuted there. The Chinese government accuses some Uighurs of leading an Islamic separatist movement in far western China, and Beijing has pressed many countries not to accept the detainees.

Albania took in five Uighur detainees from Guantanamo in 2006 but has since refused to accept more. Despite contacting about 100 governments, the U.S. has not had further luck in securing a new home for the Uighurs.

Since January, the U. S. has transferred one detainee from Guantanamo to France and one to Britain. On Tuesday, it sent the first detainee to the U.S. to face charges in federal court.

Despite bipartisan opposition in Congress to bringing such prisoners to the U.S. for trial, resettlement, or continued detention, Ahmed Ghailani appeared in U.S. District Court in New York Tuesday to face charges in the 1998 East Africa bombings. He pleaded not guilty to 286 murder and conspiracy charges in connection with the blasts at the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which killed 224 people.

Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnel told the Washington Post on Tuesday that the president, in authorising the transfer of Ghailani, was ignoring 'the clear desire of Congress and the American people that these terrorists not be brought to the United States.'

Some see so many expressions against resettlement of the detainees in the U.S. as detrimental to U.S. efforts to persuade other nations to take them.

'In general, of course we applaud Palau for considering resettlement of the Uighurs. It is an important gesture,' said Joane Mariner, director of terrorism and counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

She said HRW was concerned about the remoteness of Palau and the lack of a Uighur community there. 'We think a better option would be to resettle some in the U.S.,' she added.

Mariner also pointed out that not resettling some of the detainees in the U.S. is a 'missed opportunity' for the Obama administration as this is the gesture European countries are waiting for before they agree to accept some of the detainees.

Other groups agree, arguing that if the goal of closing Guantanamo is to be achieved, the U.S. should not be so weary about leading by example.

'We welcome the Obama Administration’s efforts to empty the Guantánamo prison facility,' said Elisa Massimino, CEO of Human Rights First. 'It is unfortunate that some in Congress have sought to obstruct these efforts. Ultimately, any comprehensive plan to do so will require the resettlement of some detainees who, like the Uighers, are not a security threat but cannot return to their home countries.'

'Especially if we expect our allies to take in detainees, the United States will need to exercise leadership and heed the words of General Petraeus who, with respect to the closure of Guantánamo, has urged Americans not to be ‘afraid to live our values,’' she said.

Amnesty International said it is concerned that this acceptance would only be a temporary solution. 'Solutions need to be permanent, durable and suitable,' the group said.

Palau, which was a U.S. trust territory until its independence in 1994, is located some 500 miles east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. Made up of eight main islands and more than 250 islets, Palau is best known for diving and tourism. With a population of about 20,000 it is one of the world’s least populated nations.

The U.S. gives Palau significant foreign aid and has guaranteed its security until 2044. Native-born Palauans can enter the U.S. without a passport or visa and Palau also uses the U.S. dollar as its currency.

The agreement includes some U.S. aid for Palau, Ambassador Kyota said, but he said those details remained to be worked out.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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