It’s very rare occurrence in my life, when I can step back and say to myself “Wow, I was just part of something amazing.”  But this afternoon, on my walk back from the Federal Court building, I knew that what I had just witnessed something that can only be described as just that: amazing.

In an absolutely landmark, groundbreaking decision, the Hon. Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled, for the first time in the facilities’ history, that 17 inmates currently held in the Guantanamo Bay prison must be released immediately into the United States.  Displaying unwavering poise and determination, Judge Urbina, in finally upholding the U.S. Constitution, clearly stated that this country, this land of the free, “has no right to hold prisoners indefinitely without charge.”  These 17 men are members of the Uighur ethnic group, and are deemed No Longer Enemy Combatants (NLEC) of the United States, a fact that both the Guantanamo petitioners and the government representatives upheld.  Judge Urbina made it beautifully clear that under his jurisdiction, prisoners who were in no way a threat to our national security, and who were being held without any sort of charge, could not be held indefinitely, and he used his judicial rights of lawful interpretation to prove it.  In a time when the rights of Guantanamo prisoners have been slowly improving over time, this decision, and the adamant way in which Judge Urbina stressed the moral base of it, may prove to completely change the way that this government operates in Guantanamo.

The 17 Uighur’s will be given provisions and housing through many local faith-based operations and the local Uighur population, many of whom were present in the courtroom today in solidarity.  The petitioners stressed the fact that there was no reason to delay this decision to bring the 17 men to the U.S., because community volunteers were already well prepared to receive them.  Judge Urbina agreed, and the 17 men must be present in front of the court on Friday the 10th, along with their caretakers, to determine the specifics of their living conditions.  Then, on Thursday the 16th, all affiliated with this situation, including representatives from the government, will convene to discuss the specifics of the Uighur’s new, free life in the States.  This landmark case has been a decisive victory, not only for the 17 Uighur men, but for all other inmates of Guantanamo, who continue to be tortured and illegally detained to this day.  And hopefully, their days of liberation will soon come.

 This ruling brings to me a feeling, which I haven’t felt enough of in a while: hope.  Hope for the fact that finally, the powers that be in this country might just be changing the ways that they conduct business.  Finally, we might begin to instill policies that actually respect and care for the rights of the individual, as opposed to those that enforce the dictating arm of the powerful.  Finally, we might be able to put the value of all human life ahead of the values of corporate greed and personal agenda.  Finally, we might shut down Guantanamo, and perhaps even end torture.  Change for good can come from the inside, and Judge Urbina proved it to me this afternoon.