U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the release of 17 Uighur detainees after they were no longer considered “enemy combatants” by the U.S. government in 2008. Three of the petitioners in Kiyemba v. Bush are still being held in Guantanamo Bay three years after the federal court order.

Late 2001

22 Uighur men were captured in Pakistan and turned over to the U.S military. Pakistani officials received $5,000 in bounty for each person taken into U.S. custody. The men were later transferred to Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan.

May 2002

The 22 Uighur detainees were relocated to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center.

2003 

The Uighur detainees were deemed eligible for release by the U.S. military, according to court documents.

2004

The Uighur detainees went through the Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT). 17 of the Kiyemba v. Bush petitioners were designated as “enemy combatants” and 5 other Uighur detainees were designated “non-combatants.”

2005

The 5 “non-combatant” Uighurs filed their habeas corpus petitions (Qassim v. Bush). The other 17 Uighurs also filed habeas corpus petitions (Kiyemba v. Bush).

2006

The 5 “non-combatant” Uighurs were relocated to Albania. The remaining 17 Uighurs were sent to Camp VI, where they were held in solitary confinement through fall of 2008. At Camp VI, the Uighurs were deprived of nearly all “social interaction [and] exposure to sunlight” and “suffered deep despair.”

2008

The remaining Uighur detainees were removed from solitary confinement and relocated to Camp Iguana. On October 8, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered the release of the 17 Uighur detainees in Kiyemba v. Bush.

2009

In February, D.C. Circuit Court struck down Urbina’s order. The petitioners filed their writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.

4 Uighurs were resettled in the Bermudas and 6 were transferred to Palau.

2010

2 Uighurs were transferred to Switzerland.

2012

2 Uighur detainees were resettled in El Salvador. 3 Uighurs remain held in Guantanamo.

SOURCES: Court documents filed in Kiyemba v. Bush and Kiyemba v. Obama.  

Learn More:

• WhatTheFolly.com: U.S. transfers two Uighur detainees to El Salvador
• WhatTheFolly.com: Status of Chinese Uighur detainees cleared for transfer
• Center for Constitutional Rights: Kiyemba v. Obama – Petition for writ of certiorari filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2009 (PDF)
• Center for Constitutional Rights: Kiyemba v. Bush – U.S. District Court Memorandum Opinion dated Oct. 8, 2008 (PDF)
• Justice.gov: Final Report of the Guantanamo Review Task Force (Jan. 22, 2010)