Guantanamo Detainees’ Plea is Aired Military Judge Denies Access to Sept. 11 Plotter Skeptical Supreme Court Ponders Guantanamo Case
The Associated Press
Lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee said Wednesday that they need immediate access to the admitted mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and two other top imprisoned terrorism suspects. A military judge denied the request.
The defense for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni facing charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism, said they must speak with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other “high value” detainees at Guantanamo to prove their client was not a hardcore member of al- Qaida and should not be prosecuted under the U.S. military tribunal system.
Hamdan’s lawyers had been expected to argue he is not an enemy combatant but, instead, a prisoner of war, and entitled to a U.S. court-martial. By Michael Doyle
McClatchy News Service
WASHINGTON
Supreme Court justices sounded skeptical Wednesday about the Bush administration’s treatment of foreign-born prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, raising questions about the future of White House war-on-terrorism tactics.
In a potentially landmark case, at least four justices cast doubt on administration efforts to deny Guantanamo Bay detainees traditional legal rights. The justices repeatedly noted in oral argument that alleged enemy combatants held since 2001 have been barred from challenging their detentions through the centuries-old courtroom tool called habeas corpus.
“It’s been six years, and habeas is supposed to be speedy,” Justice Stephen Breyer said. “It’s a serious problem.”
But if questions are any guide, the unusually long oral argument Wednesday is setting up the court for another closely divided opinion, as conservative justices aligned themselves with the Bush administration’s arguments about wartime necessities.
“We had 400,000 German prisoners – 400,000 – in our country in World War II,” Justice Antonin Scalia noted, “and there was not a single habeas petition.”
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who’s considered a swing vote, didn’t appear to favor either side and asked few questions.
The cases argued for more than an hour Wednesday present the highest-profile terrorism dispute to arise since Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito joined the high court. Although a decision may be months away, the cases already come with great ceremony.
Demonstrators arrayed in orange prison-style jumpsuits stood silently outside Wednesday as snow began falling. Inside, lawmakers including Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts listened closely. Public relations specialists aggressively touted the availability of various professors and lawyers.
“We’re very hopeful and optimistic,” said Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has been representing foreign-born prisoners.
The combined cases called Boumediene v. Bush and Al-Odah v. United States question whether the Constitution extends habeas corpus rights to the Guantanamo Bay prisoners, none of them U.S. citizens. If the answer is yes, the court also will address whether a military tribunal established by Congress and the Bush administration is a reasonable alternative to civilian courts.
Through a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, prisoners can demand the legal and factual basis for their imprisonment. The Constitution declares that habeas corpus rights can’t be suspended “unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.”
The Bush administration argues that the Constitution doesn’t cover the approximately 304 men detained at Guantanamo Bay. Algerian native Lakhdar Boumediene, Kuwaiti native Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah and the other detainees were seized abroad and have never been held on the U.S. mainland.
“Do you have a single case in the 220 years of our country … in which habeas was granted to an alien in a territory that was not under the sovereign control of the United States?” Scalia asked the detainees’ attorney, Seth Waxman.
A decision is expected by June.
The Associated Press
Lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee said Wednesday that they need immediate access to the admitted mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and two other top imprisoned terrorism suspects. A military judge denied the request.
The defense for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni facing charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism, said they must speak with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other so-called “high value” detainees at Guantanamo to prove their client was not a hardcore member of al-Qaida and should not be prosecuted under the U.S. military tribunal system.
Hamdan’s lawyers had been expected to argue he is not an unlawful enemy combatant but, instead, a prisoner of war, and entitled under the Geneva Conventions to a U.S. military court martial.
(c) 2007 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.