Appeals court hears Uighurs case

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. Justice Department lawyer Monday urged a federal appeals court to overturn an order to release a group of Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre argued that U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina overstepped his authority when he ordered the release of 17 Chinese Uighurs, a group that is seeking a homeland in western China, The Washington Post reported.

Garre said only the president has the authority to order the releases.

"We have the authority to hold these men pending resettlement efforts," Garre told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. "Neither our Constitution nor our laws entitle them to come to the United States and to be released here."

The Uighurs have been held at Guantanamo Bay for nearly seven years.

Although the U.S. government no longer considers the men enemy combatants and would like to release them, the government cannot return them to China, where they are considered terrorists and would likely be tortured, the newspaper said.