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Federal Judge Calls Gitmo Detentions “Unlawful”

HeadlineDec 23, 2005

This news on Guantanamo Bay: the Washington Post is reporting a federal judge has ruled the detention of two ethnic Uyghurs at the U.S. prison is “unlawful”, but says he does not have the authority to release them. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said the government has taken too long to release Abu Bakker Qassim and Adel Abdu Hakim — who have been jailed for four years. The two have been cleared for release, but not returned to China where they would likely face torture or execution.. The two men are among nine detainees that remain at Guantanamo despite having been declared “no longer enemy combatants.” In his ruling, Judge Robertson wrote: “The government’s use of the Kafka-esque term 'no longer enemy combatants' deliberately begs the question of whether these petitioners ever were enemy combatants.”

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