CUBA: Hearing will be held at Guantanamo Bay for detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan, an accused guard for Osama Bin Laden

The Supreme court on Wednesday (December 5) is scheduled to hear the appeal of Guantanamo prisoners who say a 2006 law unconstitutionally denies them a meaningful way to challenge in court their detention at the U.S. Naval Base on Cuba. The case is being watched by governments and human rights activists around the world, who say President George W. Bush has overreached his powers and trampled on rights in the war on terrorism he launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Also on Wednesday, a Guantanamo tribunal will hold a hearing in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, an accused guard for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hamdan won a Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down Bush's first tribunal system, but the court declined to take an appeal by Hamdan to join Wednesday's cases. The Bush administration told the court the Guantanamo prisoners receive fair treatment and a chance to make their case before a military tribunal, with a limited appeals court review. But it said the Constitution's "habeas corpus" rights for prisoners to seek a court review of their detention do not apply to foreigners held outside the country. "The detainees now enjoy greater procedural protections and statutory rights to challenge their wartime detentions than any other captured enemy combatants in the history of war. Yet they claim an entitlement to more," the Justice Department said in its brief on the case. Conservative legal groups and others joining the case in support of the administration argued that giving detainees broad rights to challenge their confinement could clog the courts and give them a propaganda platform. The high court has ruled against the administration in two previous Guantanamo cases, but Congress adopted new measures aimed at keeping such cases out of court. A federal appeals court sided with the government in February in upholding the new measures. The Supreme Court initially refused to consider an appeal, but in a rare move reversed its decision and decided to hear the case.

ITN Source | December 5, 2007

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