[JURIST] Lawyers for seven Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archives] filed a motion [text, PDF] Thursday to remand proceedings from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official websites]. The motion comes just days after the US Supreme Court [official website] ordered [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] the appeals court to reconsider the case of Kiyemba v. Obama [docket; CCR backgrounder] in light of the fact that each of the remaining Uighurs has received an offer of resettlement by another country. The detainees' counsel argues that additional fact-finding at the district court level is necessary in light of the resettlement offers. The circuit court has yet to take any action on the case.

Of the 22 Uighurs originally detained at Guantanamo Bay, 17 have accepted offers of relocation to other countries. Six Uighurs were transferred to Palau, four to Bermuda, five to Albania, and two, still in US custody, have accepted offers of resettlement to Switzerland [JURIST reports]. Palau announced [AFP report] it would accept the remaining five Uighurs, but the detainees subsequently rejected the offers. China considers the Uighurs to be terrorists, raising concerns [JURIST report] in the Obama administration that the prisoners will be tortured if repatriated.