Following is a time line of the detention of the Uighurs in Guantanamo.
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2001 The Pentagon claimed there was a separatist training camp in the Tora Bora mountains - After U.S. forces bombed a village near the Tora Bora mountains in Eastern Afghanistan, 22 Uighurs fled the area.
- Pentagon officials claim the area was a separatist training camp with loose ties to the Taliban.
- Originally taken in by Pakistanis, the Uighurs were handed to the U.S. military for a reward.
- By 2002, and after being sent to detention centers in Afghanistan, all 22 Uighurs were sent to Guantanamo in Cuba. |
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2003 - Of the 22 detainees, seven were considered a threat to the U.S. by the Pentagon and retained, while the other 15 were allowed to be released. |
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2004 - U.S. officials seeked Muslim countries with Uighur communities to send the 15 Uighurs as they did not want to repatriate them back to China.
- A board established by the Pentagon at Guantanamo Bay was to decide whether or not the 15 Uighur prisoners should be released. Originally, six were cleared but in a second review the board only found five could be let go.
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2006 August 25
- The five detainees were sent to Camp Iguana, a compound within Guantanamo Bay where they filed writs of Habeas Corpus for unlawful detainment.
May 5
- The five Uighur men were released and sent to Albania's National Center for Refugees in Tirana. |
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2008 June
- All Uighur detainees were no longer considered dangerous by the Bush administration but would remained in detention until it found a country to send them to.
October 1
- Justice Department found all remaining Uighur detainees to be non-threats and cleared for release.
- That same month, a U.S. Federal Court found they should be released into communities in the United States. |
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2009 Demonstrations for the release of the Uighir prisoners near in Washington DC in February 2009. January 22
- President Barack Obama signs an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay Naval Base detention facilities within one year.
Feburary 9
- A U.S. Federal Appeals Court said that the U.S. Federal Court did not have the authority to allow the release of the Uighurs into the U.S. on the basis that only the President or Congress holds that power.
- In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said: "On the issue of the Chinese terrorist suspects detained in Guantanamo, we have repeatedly stated that we oppose any country receiving these people."
April 22
- Leader of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party Abdul Haq was designated as a terrorist by The U.S. treasury Department.
April 24
- Amid reports that seven of the detained Uighur would be repatriated to the states, U.S. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says no decision has been made.
April 30
- Adil Hakim, one of the Uighur detainees sent to Albania, was granted asylum in Sweden after speaking at a human rights conference there.
May
- U.S. lawmakers such as Senator Mitch McConell and Senator Max Baucus are against the idea of the Uighurs being released in the U.S.
- Los Angeles Times and New York Daily News names Northern Virginia as a possible relocation place for the detainees because of its Uighur community.
June 9
- Palau agreed to take in up to 17 Uighur detainees.
- The U.S. sent four Uighur detainees to Bermuda, leaving 13 still in detention in Guantanamo. |
