Guantanamo Bay: no way out A landmark case involving Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama Bin Laden, was the catalyst for the legal saga. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the president's policy on Gitmo detainees. The administration immediately requested and was granted a new law. This statute established military commissions for the purpose of trying enemy combatants and eliminating their right to seek freedom via the U.S. judicial system. Here's the backstory: Judge Robertson was nominated by President Clinton and was a prominent civil rights advocate while he was in private practice. He originally sided with Hamdan, but he recused himself when the case came back in front of him, claiming that he no longer had jurisdiction to hear Hamdan's case since Congress clearly intended to keep such disputes out of federal courts. According to a spokesperson, the Department of Justice was pleased with the ruling because attorneys for the government have repeatedly argued that Guantanamo Bay detainees have no legal access to U.S. courts. Reportedly, the new law grants each detainee the right to first challenge his or her detention before a military tribunal; then, based upon the tribunal's ruling, the detainee can issue a protest to a Washington, DC, appeals court. However, the ruling does not affect the fates of hundreds of detainees whose cases are currently pending before Washington appeals courts. The Guantánamo Bay detainment camp functions both as a joint military prison and interrogation center. It is under the leadership of Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) and has been located on a portion of the United States Navy's base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002. Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and the now-closed Camp X-Ray comprise the detainment areas of Gitmo (a derivation from the abbreviation "GTMO"). Its primary occupants are persons suspected of being al-Qaeda or Taliban operatives; however, there are some prisoners there who are no longer considered suspects and waiting to be relocated. There has been criticism from not only within the U.S. but from around the world of the U.S. military's detainment of prisoners without trial. There have also been allegations of torture at the camp. The U.S. administration previously claimed that Gitmo detainees were not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against this interpretation on June 19, 2006. Less than a month later, on July 7, 2006, the Department of Defense issued an internal memo that reversed the administration's previous viewpoint and stated that Gitmo prisoners will in the future be entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions protections. To date, the majority of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay have not been scheduled to go to trial. According to an MSNBC.com report, as of November 2006, approximately 340 of 775 detainees who were detained at Guantánamo have been released, leaving 435 still waiting. 110 of those still waiting have been labeled "ready for release," and of the other 325, only "more than 70" will face trial. That leaves about 250 more detainees who could be held indefinitely. According to a November 12, 2005, report by The Wall Street Journal, 358 detainees had been granted Administrative Review Board hearings. 3% of these detainees had been granted freedom and were awaiting release, 20% were designated for transfer, and 37% were to be further detained; no decisions had been made in 40% of the cases. The demographic breakdown of the detention center's 505 detainees is as follows: 100 or more are from Saudi Arabia, about 80 are from Yemen, about 65 are from Pakistan, about 50 are from Afghanistan, two are from Syria, and one is from Australia.

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Article ID: 2320     Article Title: In a Place Where No Law Applies Comments: The problem is not that our enemies aren't afforded rights under the US Constitution. The problem is that too many left wing kooks believe the US is the source of evil in the world, and that the poor Islamic jihadists are only the next victim group to succumb to the big bad bully. Never before have US courts granted noncitizens habeas corpus rights under the US Constitution to our enemies during a time of war. It is mind boggling to think so many people have so sensitized, dare I say feminized, to believe that our enemies should be spared, let alone be given constitutional rights. This is what the Supreme Court has done. Posted by: Para lelluniverse   |   Date: 01-03-2007 Comment

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