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US
Court blocks release of 17 Chinese detainees
Article published on the 2008-10-21 Latest update 2008-10-21 17:34 TU
An anti-Guantanamo protest in Washington
( Photo: AFP )
Seventeen Chinese Muslim Uighurs are to be held at the Guantanamo Bay prison following a ruling by the Court of Appeals in the District of Colombia on Tuesday. The court was responding to a request by the US government to hold the men after a 7 October judgement that ordered the men to be released.
The men were originally detained by Pakistan's government, after fleeing Afghanistan, and handed over to the US. They have been held in Guantanamo for over six years without trial.
The men will not be released to China since there are fears for their safety and US authorities have been unable to find a country to welcome them. Requests to release the men onto US soil have been rejected by the US government which claims the men are a"potential national security risk".
Meanwhile the Pentagon said Tuesday that it had dropped chrages against five other Guantanamo detainees. The five include a British national and the Pentagon said they were being "dismissed without prejudice", which means the charges could be reinstated later.
