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Jura authorities approve Guantánamo prisoners

Authorities in canton Jura have said they are prepared to take two Chinese Guantánamo inmates providing the federal government approves the move.

This content was published on February 2, 2010

The Chinese government said it wants the two ethnic minority Uighurs sent back to China, alleging they are terrorists.

Officials in the northwestern canton said on Tuesday they would accept the brothers on humanitarian grounds.

"These two men do not deserve what has happened to them for the past eight years,” said cantonal government head Charles Juillard at a media conference.

The Swiss section of Amnesty International welcomed the news for the “humanitarian gesture” and urged the federal government to approve the move.

The Swiss government has yet to make a final decision on the matter.

Around 80 ethnic Uighurs live in Switzerland.

Last month an Uzbek became the first former inmate of the United States detention centre to be resettled in Switzerland.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

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