No charges against the Chinese Muslims in Guantanamo, and yet...

Seventeen Chinese prisoners who have been held for nearly seven years in Guantánamo Bay will be informed on Monday that they could spend the rest of their lives behind bars, even though they face no charges and have been told by a judge they should be freed. 

No country is willing to accept them and the US justice department has now blocked moves for them to be allowed to go to the US mainland, where they had been offered a home by refugee and Christian organisations.

The men's lawyer, Sabin Willett, is flying to Guantánamo Bay this weekend to break the news to the men, who are members of the Uighur ethnic group seeking autonomy from China. In a blunt and angry letter to justice department lawyers, Willett spelled out what he thought of the way the men had been treated.

"After years of stalling and staying and appellate gamesmanship, you pleaded no contest - they are not enemy combatants," Willett has written. "You have never charged them with any crime." More...

See also:

1. 17 Chinese Muslims freed from Guantanamo...
2. Anyone can become a torturer, no one has to...
3. Guantanamo: most of the detainees were never criminals in the first place...
4. Welcome to Taliban Towers at Guantanamo Bay...