Court Orders 17 Innocent Guantanamo Detainees be Released in the U.S.

It's hardly justice for the imprisoned innocents, but it's a start:

A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Tuesday to immediately release a small group of Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo Bay into the United States.

In a landmark decision, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said it would be wrong for the Bush administration to continue holding the detainees, known as Uighurs, since they are no longer considered enemy combatants.

The Uighurs have been in custody for almost seven years and have been cleared for release since 2004, but the government has not been able to find a country willing to take them in. Bush administration lawyers argued Tuesday that Urbina did not have the authority to order the Uighurs released into the United States.

Urbina, obviously, disagreed. He held that their detention since 2004 has been unconstitutional since they have been held without charges. This ends the limbo for these men. China is demanding their return, which has been part of the excuse for the Bush administration to hold them. They've argued that relations with China could be damaged if the men aren't repatriated there. As if relations with the entire rest of the world haven't been damaged enough by the fact that we've held men who have been proven innocent captive for four years.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which has taken the lead in many detainee cases, released this statement:

"This is a historic day for the U.S. Finally, we are beginning the process of taking responsibility for our mistakes and fixing them," said CCR Attorney Emi MacLean. "For years, the United States has begged other countries to clean up the mess we made in Guantanamo, but the hypocrisy of this appeal was evident abroad. Perhaps now other countries will be less reluctant to come to our aid." MacLean continued, "Allowing these wrongfully detained men a fresh start would also provide the U.S. a fresh start – an opportunity to turn a page and finally take a position of leadership in closing Guantanamo."

Religious and community leaders from both Tallahassee, Florida and the Washington D.C. area offered to the court detailed plans for the support of the men, from housing and counseling to employment and car insurance. In this stunning show of goodwill and solidarity, 20 leaders from faith-based communities in Tallahassee, Florida, and a network of refugee resettlement agencies and other religious groups, have pledged to help settle the men in local communities. Many members of the Uighur community came to court today to lend support.

There's a long way to go before we earn a fresh start as a country, but there is hope. I'm encouraged, too, that this decision came while Bush is still in office, that his administration is being forced to do the right thing. It's just a tiny part of the mess that they created that they now have to clean up, but it's something.

Update: The administration is threatening to seek a stay of the decision. Three guesses on what basis:

The Justice Department said it planned to seek a stay of Urbina's order. His ruling "presents serious national security and separation of powers concerns and raised unprecedented legal issues," said Brian Roehrkasse, a department spokesman.

Update II: Via oofer and Joffan in comments, the DoJ has announced its intent to appeal the ruling.