The four Chinese Uighurs who arrived in Bermuda last week from Guantánamo Bay "cannot and should not go back" there, Sir Richard Gozney said yesterday.

The Governor told a press conference that though Britain viewed the "exchange of notes" between the US and Bermuda which led to the former terror suspects coming here as invalid, it did not plan to send them back.

He would not elaborate on what other options were available for the four Muslim men, who spent seven years at the US detention facility in Cuba. "If I do, that may prejudice other possible solutions," said Sir Richard.

He said the direct negotiations which took place between the Island and the States were in breach of section 62 of Bermuda's Constitution, because they "clearly" fell into the area of external affairs and security, matters for which he has sole responsibility.

"Because it broke the Constitution, this exchange of notes which was negotiated and sent on June 10, was, in our view, invalid. In other words, the Bermuda Government's action to solicit the arrival of the four Uighurs was unacceptable."

He added: "I talked to the Bermuda Government yesterday, June 16, and suggested to them that they should now consider carefully their next steps."

Sir Richard insisted that did not mean Abdulla Abdulqadir, Salahidin Abdulahad, Ablikim Turahun and Khalil Mamut would be asked to leave but did mean Bermuda, the US and the UK needed to work together on finding a solution.

His comments should reassure international human rights organisations, who argued earlier this week that it would be wrong to fly the men back to Guantánamo.

Tom Malinowski, director of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch, told this newspaper it would have been "profoundly petty and cruel" if disgruntled officials in London forced a U-turn.

Yesterday, Sir Richard said the Government's decision to "solicit" the men had "long-term consequences which I don't think have been thought through".

He said no one involved had asked Government House to confirm whether the matter was one involving foreign affairs or immigration.

Another issue, he added, was the question of the men being granted British Overseas Territory citizenship, which can only be given by the UK subject to certain conditions being met, such as "years and years" of residency. "I don't think these conditions are met in less than many years," said Sir Richard.

He said the negotiations breached the spirit of the "general entrustment" agreement Bermuda has enjoyed with Britain for the last 40 years, allowing it to enter directly into certain binding treaties with other countries with the UK's consent.

The exchange of notes, he explained, wasn't legally binding but the principle was the same and Britain should have been told.

Sir Richard said Government House still needed the relevant information to enable Bermuda Police Service to make a proper security assessment of the Uighurs, who came here on a private plane from Cuba a week ago after numerous other countries — including the US — refused to have them.

"We are still waiting for the information and you can imagine where that needs to come from," he said.

The Governor said he did most of the talking when he met Premier Ewart Brown on Tuesday immediately after a lunchtime protest involving hundreds of people against Dr. Brown outside Cabinet.

"I talked to the Premier about this British reaction," he said. "I'm not going to say now what his reaction was. It was mostly my talking to him and giving him a picture. There was nothing which he said which made life more complicated than it already is."

Sir Richard batted away a series of questions from the media about his conversations concerning the Uighurs with officials here and in London.

Nor would he comment on Tuesday's demonstration, which he said was "a matter entirely for Bermuda and Bermudians", or on how the Guantánamo controversy could affect the Island's tourism industry and Britain's relationship with China.

But the mood lightened when he was asked how he would have tried to stop the plane from Cuba coming to Bermuda last week had he known it was on its way.

"I don't have any surface-to-air missiles," he replied, adding that he would have used diplomacy.

• To view the Bermuda Constitution, visit www.laws.gov.bm.

Further stories – Pages 8, 9, 11