Ireland agrees to take 2 Guantanamo inmates from Uzbekistan

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press

Wednesday July 29, 2009 16:24

by redjade

Ireland has agreed to accept two inmates from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern announced Wednesday.

Ahern said the two men belong to a group of about 50 inmates who are "no longer regarded as posing a threat to security but who cannot return to their own countries." He declined to identify them, but other officials confirmed that both are from Uzbekistan and seized in neighboring Afghanistan in bitterly disputed circumstances.

Ahern's announcement came as he met newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Dan Rooney following a visit last week by Irish officials to Washington and Guantanamo.

[....]

Two government officials with knowledge of the case — speaking on condition of anonymity because they were breaching the government's official position — said both men are Uzbek nationals. One, 31-year-old Oybek Jabbarov, has been the focus of several months' campaigning by Irish human rights groups seeking to bring him to Ireland.

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Comments (7 of 7)

Why stop at 2 Dermot. Grasp this tactical opportunity

by USLapdog

Thu Jul 30, 2009 00:34

They are mostly poor unfortunates who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The US would greatly appreciate some help getting itself out of this political hole they are in. Taking 2 is a paltry gesture. We should take at least 100 of them in return for some economic aid from the US. We might as well benefit from being some sort of glorified corporate tax haven cum aircraft carrier for the US. At least food, proper medical attention and no tax on your basic accommodation are available on a real aircraft carrier. Guess we're just a yellow pack one.

Oh to be Innocent..

by Battle Hardened.

Thu Jul 30, 2009 08:09

" They are mostly poor unfortunates who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The US would greatly appreciate some help getting itself out of this political hole they are in. Taking 2 is a paltry gesture. We should take at least 100 of them in return for some economic aid from the US ."

R.E : Your naivety about those "poor unfortunates".

Two is........"company".

More than Two is........"a crowd".
.

Underdogs

by observer

Thu Jul 30, 2009 08:31

" The US would greatly appreciate some help getting itself out of this political hole they are in. Taking 2 is a paltry gesture"

Absolutely correct !

Underdog nations such as Ireland, should of course become the dumping grounds for the worlds underdogs. Lump the underpriveleged all together just as our county councils do with it's travellers.

we're fucked anyway so 100 more on the dole won't make any difference

Thu Jul 30, 2009 08:50

whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty in a court of law??
It's widely considered that most of these guys are completely innocent.

we might as well exploit the situation for political / monetary advantage. And as a bonus, It might help guantanamo to close a bit sooner

Céad Míle Fáilte

by Stoph

Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:06

Having aided the US in it's illegal and blatant imperialism and defiance of the UN the very least we can do is welcome these innocent men. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, spent 8 years in captivity, their human rights denied without proper trial, ultimately victims of highly advanced US Intelligence operations that offered large sums of cash to local tribal leaders for the capture of alleged "terrorists" in Afghanistan.

As a people and a self respecting nation as well as an act of human empathy and solidarity with those subjected to gross injustice we should welcome these men with open arms and push our regime...cough, cough I mean government, to accept many more like them.

compassion

by cosmopolitan

Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:50

We should take in these two Uzbeckistan detainees, who have not been found guilty of any crime, on compassionate grounds. However, since they have not been tried and convicted they were therefore wrongfully detained for a number of years by the Bush government. It was false imprisonment. In order to help them to settle into Irish society I think the US Government should make compensation money available for the two men. They might buy homes, take English and vocational courses, and maybe buy air tickets for their spouses/fiancees and any children to come and join them.

cead mile failte in Uzbek, Tajik or have they got a grasp of English by now?

by iosaf

Thu Jul 30, 2009 23:02

barcelona - catalunya

I admit I've been bemused by the media feting which announces each European state's quota of post Gitmo displaced persons. European states which were undeniably complicit in extra-ordinary rendition and unquestionably reticent to challenge the establishment of Guantanamo, have following the lead of the Spanish state offered to take in, house, nurture, & keep safe numbers of ex-Gitmo detainees ranging from the pretty solid number of one to two to three to four to the very impressive Italian and Spanish offers of something between eight and nine .

at this rate Obama will have shut up shop in camp Delta long after he's exhausted EU and NATO ally hospitality and has moved on to giving the Chinese about a hundred, perhaps to assuage their pique that they're obviously not getting their Islamic seperatists back.

well that's the way.

So will our new Irish residents be given free homes, health care, educational services for their kids (after so long cooped up they will surely want to settle down with a nice girl and breed) & that uniquely Irish virtue :- the benefit of the doubt ?

of course they will.

We love Uzbeks. We don't care if they're the kind of Uzbek who speak Uzbek or the minority kind who hang out in Iran and Afghanistan and speak Tajik. It's all bollix to us and we probably take it for granted the lands speak good enough American English by now to understand a FAS instructor's carpentry or pizza-cutting course.

Oh, but in our archives didn't we note the importance of Uzbeks?

of course we did.

Tommy Donellan told us about the ex UK ambassador leaking documents telling us how the Uzbeks were tortured
"Ex - UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan leaks torture documents." http://www.indymedia.ie/article/73622

Most recently Dr Coilin ÓhAiseadha our own Danish expert explained to us about the whisteblower case of former Danish secret service man Frank Grevil, whose exposure told us much about the prices put by the unscrupulous nimby types in Afghan tribal areas for these Uzbek foreigner types, who then sold them to the Yankees as bona fide Al Qaeda types....... Oh they were had those Yankee types. But rather than admit they'd been burnt, stayed all quiet and thanks to Cheney just tortured their bogus terrorists for years.
Danish whistleblower Grevil gets Sam Adams Award
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/91041

& just for light relief, and to let you know that you really couldn't take Borat seriously when he jeered at the Kazakh's neighbours the shitty state of Uzbekistan, I did my best to tell you all about their first internet festival back in 2005. Of course that festival was cancelled, and the spam bots didn't get to enjoy a convention style gig as the men who sell us miracle penis enlargement pills got out their wares and had a laugh. But all the same in the comments you can read about how even then, back in 2005 almost half a decade ago - we knew Uzbekistan and not just Uzbeks were a black hole of dark prisons on the Cheney CIA circuit.

Perhaps these men rather than getting a free flat, rent allowance, guinness and Late Late Show apperances really should just be given quiet homes out west till they write their memories & explain it all to us. they mean so much these two little men who went in one side and came out the other

Uzbekistan's 1st Internet Festival report.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/69818

cead mile failte. your previous gear was provided by the lowest bidder (the american way) but now we're going to spoil you!

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Ireland agrees to take 2 Guantanamo inmates from Uzbekistan

Comments (7 of 7)