Comments on: Guantánamo’s Uighurs In Bermuda: Interviews And New Photos

By: Andy Worthington Discusses Guantánamo on Democracy Now! « Dandelion Salad

Andy Worthington Discusses Guantánamo on Democracy Now! « Dandelion Salad — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:20:48 +0000

[...] other issues, Amy also asked me about the case of the Uighurs from Guantánamo who were recently released in Bermuda, about the three Saudis who were also released (and especially Ahmed Zuhair, Guantánamo’s [...]

By: Justice At Last? Guantánamo Uighurs Ask Supreme Court For Release Into US by Andy Worthington « Dandelion Salad

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:43:09 +0000

[...] government backed down, the four Uighurs who took up residence in Bermuda in June — where they soon demonstrated to any open-minded local that they were not, and had never been terrorists — would have performed [...]

By: Guantanamo Envoy: U.S. Should Have Taken Cleared Prisoners; Some Should Never Have Been Held | Vereniging Oeigoeren Nederland

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:38:59 +0000

[...] that they were not any kind of threat,” he said, adding, “These are four people who are enjoying freedom who would otherwise be in [...]

By: A Plea To Barack Obama From The Guantánamo Uighurs by Andy Worthington « Dandelion Salad

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:45:40 +0000

[...] (known to the Pentagon as Abdul Helil Mamut) — have been released from Guantánamo to begin a new life in Bermuda with two other Uighur ex-prisoners, but the other signatories remain, and I reproduce their letter [...]

By: Guantánamo As Hotel California: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave « Dandelion Salad

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:54:39 +0000

[...] even though some had been approved for release in 2006. Excluding the Uighurs (four of whom were finally released in Bermuda in June) and three Saudis released in the same month (see here and here), this leaves a total of 38 [...]

By: Andy Worthington: Guantanamo As Hotel California: You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But You Can Never Leave | My 2 Cents Worth

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:49:31 +0000

By: Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:33:54 +0000

You’re not venting at all, mui. You have seen the truth about the Guantanamo tribunals, and that is a truly excellent analysis.

By: mui

mui — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:17:58 +0000

Nice post. And hi to mehmet. If it helps any, I don’t think all chinese agree with the callous bitch-speak that sometimes comes from the mainland chinese government. The mainland government says crazy stuff about the Dalai Lama. They get all worked up when the former pres of taiwan speaks at his alma mater in the US. They’re a real piece of work.
The Turkic influence is said to have contributed to China’s Golden Age, the Tang Dynasty. It is terrible that a glorious history should come to this mess.
–
When I scanned though CSRT foia documents footnoted in andy’s book , I was struck by a few things .
One, the tribunals were so mccarthyesque that I almost became too disgusted and sad to read further. Two, the uighur detainee being inquisitioned — and yes it seemed like a return to the inquisition when they asked him about reading the Koran–seemed kind of vague and unworldly on the question of the foreign fighters in Afghanistan The uighurs didn’t sound too sure about the Afghan geography, seemed like they kept to themselves and sounded a little afraid or really uncertain about the “Arabs” on the trek to Pakistan. And the trek sounded reminiscent of civilians and prisoners of the Germans fleeing the “burning city” that is Dresden . In other words, I don’t get the picture of savvy hardened “terrorists.”
Which brings me to Three. I don’t think these guys are a threat to Mainland china, no matter what that government might say. Some of the uighurs may have said they wanted to “fight the Chinese,” but that might be like me saying I want to win a million dollars. Honestly, I really, really think the uighurs, including those who reportedly said they wanted to “fight China,” were really just poor men and refugees dreaming of relative prosperity in Turkey and the west, by following in the footsteps of many poor working Asians, by becoming guest workers.

I am probably venting. But these Gitmo cases are really starting to get under my skin in all sorts of new ways.

By: Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:44:28 +0000

And thanks to you. Great comments.

By: Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:41:42 +0000

After I wrote to mui, to say thanks for comments on the previous Uighur article –
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/06/11/who-are-the-four-guantanamo-uighurs-sent-to-bermuda/ –
I received the following reply:

You’re welcome. Thanks for the wonderful website.

I like to think that pushing this story will plant seeds of doubt in the minds of those who think all the other Gitmo prisoners are “terrorists.”

The comments made at the Bermuda Sun worried me. I hope the commenters don’t represent the community that the Uighurs will be dealing with. And I hope I am not stereotyping, but when I look at pictures of the Uighurs, I think of those rural, plain-spoken, open-faced, often totally guileless types (of whatever nationality) working as guest workers, hired for construction or whatever in various Asian or western cities. In normal times, they might have gotten cheated by store owners etc. in the wicked big cities of the world. Thanks to the “War on Terra”, they got thrown into this wicked world of torture prisons and legal limbo. That breaks my heart.

Thanks again,
mui