Amnesty International deeply regrets today's (20 Feb.) decision by the US Court of Appeals that the federal courts lack jurisdiction to hear any habeas corpus appeals from Guantánamo detainees. In a divided opinion, the Court held that the Military Commissions Act, signed into law by President Bush in October last year, has retroactively stripped the courts of jurisdiction to hear all such petitions. “The right of all detainees to challenge the lawfulness of their detention is among the most fundamental principles of international law. That any legislature or any judge anywhere should countenance such stripping of this basic protection against arbitrary detention, secret custody, torture and other ill-treatment is shocking and must be challenged,” said Rob Freer, US Researcher at Amnesty International.
Nearly 400 detainees are still held in Guantánamo. Some have been held for more than five years. None has had the lawfulness of his indefinite detention judicially reviewed. MORE
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510302007
Please also see:
US appeals court upholds denial of habeas corpus rights to Guantánamo detainees
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/guan-f21.shtml
Israel Rafalovich: United States Rejects Guantánamo Visit
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=3193&blz=1
Nearly 400 detainees are still held in Guantánamo. Some have been held for more than five years. None has had the lawfulness of his indefinite detention judicially reviewed. MORE
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510302007
Please also see:
US appeals court upholds denial of habeas corpus rights to Guantánamo detainees
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/guan-f21.shtml
Israel Rafalovich: United States Rejects Guantánamo Visit
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=3193&blz=1