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Uighurs film attracts global attention

Bermuda took in former Guantanamo Bay detainees Ablikim Turahun, Salahidin Abdulahad, Abdulla Abdulqadir and Khalil Mamut (File photo)

A documentary about the plight of a group of Uighurs imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay — four of whom were sent to Bermuda — is making waves in the Britain and the United States.

Uighurs: Prisoners of the Absurd, directed by filmmaker Patricio Henriquez, follows 22 Chinese Muslims captured in Afghanistan and held for years in the notorious prison despite being cleared of all charges.

Because all of the men were wanted as terrorists in China, the US Government was unwilling to return them to that country and instead spent several years trying to find other nations to take them in.

Bermuda was one of several countries to answer the call, taking in four of the Uighurs — a move that reportedly upset the British Government, which was unaware of the deal.

In the documentary, lawyer Sabin Willett says the US was aware that the British Government would “go nuts” when it found out about the deal.

The film also captures the reaction of the men when they arrived on the Island after years of incarceration.

The documentary had its world premiere in Montreal last October, but is now getting international attention, screening in both New York and London as part of the Human Rights Watch Travelling Film Festival.

Mr Henriquez, who was born in Chile but now resides in Montreal, has tackled the issue of Guantánamo Bay with two previous films — Under the Hood: A Voyage into the World of Torture and You Don’t Like the Truth: Four Days inside Guantánamo.