Sunday, April 22, 2012

TWO DETAINEES RELEASED (updated)

          I was going to title this post "so much for court orders" but later I might be looking for the post that described the release of these two Uighers to El Salvador and this title will make it easier....also I was waiting to post about this release until I had time to see how long it has been since any detainee has been released from Guantanamo. I did a search of my blog today and it seems the last man release was in July 2010...sigh.
  In regards to last weeks release I am quoting the email announcement from the Pentagon:

            "The Department of Defense announced [April 19] the  the transfer of two Uighur detainees from the detention facility at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to the Government of El Salvador.  These detainees were subject to release from Guantanamo as a result of a court order issued on October 7, 2008 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and are voluntarily resettling in El Salvador. 
            As directed by the President's January 22, 2009, executive order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of these cases.  As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, these individuals were designated for transfer by unanimous consent among all six agencies on the task force.  In accordance with statutory reporting requirements, the administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer these individuals. 
            The United States coordinated with the government of El Salvador to ensure the transfer took place in accordance with appropriate security and humane treatment measures. 
            Today, 169 detainees remain at the detention center in Guantanamo." (emphasis added)


         So yes, the Court ordered these men to be released in 2008...but that wasn't good enough....so then the Obama Gitmo Task force in 2009 "okd" the release that had been ordered by the Court  and now three years after that the men are finally free.


Justice U.S. style.
I wish these two men the best of luck.