SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The prisoner from a western region of China faced serious accusations as he appeared before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. But he had a much more pressing issue on his mind: Where he might go if he were released.

If he were sent back to China, he might be executed, the man, identified only as Mahmut, told the panel at the start of his hearing, according to a transcripts released by the Pentagon.

“I do not want repatriation and am seeking political asylum,” he said.

His fear, according to a review of dozens of other transcripts from hearings at the prison in eastern Cuba, was not uncommon among the detainees.

Prisoners from Uzbekistan, Yemen, Algeria, and other nations told tribunals that they or their families could be tortured or killed if they are sent home.

Some detainees worry about reprisals from militants who will suspect them of cooperating with American authorities in its war on terror. Others say their own governments may target them for reasons that have nothing to do with why they were taken to Guantanamo Bay in the first place.

A man from Syria who was detained along with his father pleaded with the tribunal for help getting them political asylum – in any country that will take them.

“You’ve been saying ‘terrorists, terrorists.’ If we return, whether we did something or not, there’s no such things as human rights. We will be killed immediately,” he said. “You know this very well.”

America has released or transferred 267 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and has announced plans to do the same with at least 123 more in the future.

It is impossible to know how many of the detainees, most held for years now without being charged, fear going home. The American military does not comment on individual cases, and the detainees generally are not in a position to offer any evidence of persecution as they plead their cases before the tribunals.

A Saudi identified only as Yasim, who said he attended an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and was jailed in his country for selling drugs, told the tribunal that after being repeatedly interrogated at Guantanamo, he fears his fellow prisoners as well as others back in Saudi Arabia.

“I can’t go back to my country. I have been threatened to be killed by many people,” he said according to the transcripts, which the Pentagon released Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit filed by the Associated Press.

A detainee from Uzbekistan told the tribunals in December 2004 that his father and uncles were jailed for their Muslim faith in his native country and said he fears the rest of his family would be tortured if he returned.

The prisoner shrugged off the threat to his own safety in Uzbekistan, where the government has clamped down on Islamic groups which are not sanctioned by the state.

“I’m not afraid to die. We all belong to Allah and we shall return to him,” he said.

This Uzbek’s fate is unknown, as is that of almost every other detainee whose names are no longer blacked out when they appear in the hearing transcripts.