Rep. Delahunt to Visit Bermuda on Uighur Fact-Finding Trip

Rep. Bill Delahunt is expected to travel to Bermuda Friday to interview the former Guantanamo Bay detainees who were transferred there last week.

Though Delahunt, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the panel's ranking Republican, are calling for a full-blown congressional hearing in Bermuda, Delahunt's initial visit is more of a fact-finding mission.

Delahunt Chief of Staff Mark Forest did not rule out the possibility of such a hearing in the future, but said the upcoming visit would be arranged "as soon as possible" so his boss can first "interview" the four Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs.

Forest said Delahunt wants to learn more first-hand about the "details surrounding their apprehension" and is "anxious to hear from them."

Delahunt and Rohrabacher said they recently learned that although they were denied access to see the Uighurs when the detainees were in Guantanamo, Chinese intelligence agents were allowed to interrogate them there.

"We didn't find out that the Chinese had been allowed in to interrogate and intimidate these Uighur prisoners until recently," said Rohrabacher. "The fact that we would be denied and the government would allow agents of a dictatorship to come in and basically intimidate the prisoners -- you can imagine."

"I think it's very important to ascertain the truth," Delahunt said.

The Uighurs were ordered released from Guantanamo after the government determined they were not enemy combatants. The government struggled with where to send them, since U.S. lawmakers did not want them on the mainland but feared they would be tortured if returned to China. The remaining 13 Uighurs still held in Guantanamo are expected to be transferred to the South Pacific island of Palau.

A statement from the Bermuda premier's office announced that Delahunt would arrive Friday, to meet with the former detainees as well as senior Bermuda government officials.

"We very much welcome his expert viewpoint on this subject and I look forward to talking with the congressman about Bermuda's commitment to this humanitarian gesture," Premier Ewart Brown said in the statement.

Delahunt and Rohrabacher have already held hearings stateside on the Uighurs. They want to hold one in Bermuda to put the Uighurs themselves on the record -- the Uighurs are not able to travel to the U.S. mainland without special permission, making Bermuda the preferred site for a hearing.

Despite his interest, Rohrabacher is not expected to accompany Delahunt on his upcoming fact-finding trip.

"Rep. Rohrabacher supports the hearing in Bermuda 100 percent and regrets not being able to travel with Mr. Delahunt this weekend for the initial trip," spokeswoman Tara Setmayer said.

FOX News' Chad Pergram and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.