5 Guantanamo Bay Detainees Ordered Released

[singyoutocoma]

Habeus corpus at last?

A federal judge on Thursday (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/ap_on_go_ot/guantanamo_detainees) ordered the release of five Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth in a major blow to the Bush administration's strategy to keep terror suspects locked up without charges.

In the first case of its kind, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the government's evidence linking the five Algerians to al-Qaida was not credible as it came from a single, unidentified source. Therefore, he said, the five could not be held indefinitely as enemy combatants, and should be released immediately.

"To allow enemy combatancy to rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with the court's obligation," Leon told the crowded courtroom.

As a result, he said, "The court must and will grant the petitioners and order their release."

[wrppdarndyrfngr]

awesome. finally some Justice.

[GiggsOho]

I got a breaking news text about this earlier and had to smile. Finally.

[saysmydoctor]

I'm curious as to where these Algerians were captured.

[wrppdarndyrfngr]

A federal judge ordered today that five Algerian nationals detained at Guantanamo Bay should be released. The court found that the government had “provided insufficient evidence (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112001714.html?hpid=topnews)t o continue their detentions.” The Washington Post reports: The decision came in the case of six Algerians who were detained in Bosnia after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and have been held at the military prison in Cuba for nearly seven years. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, a Bush appointee, ruled that five of the men must be released “forthwith” and ordered the government to engage in diplomatic efforts to find them new homes. […]


In the case of the sixth Algerian, Belkacem Bensayah, Leon found that the government had met its evidentiary burden and could continue to hold him. … The landmark ruling is the first by a federal judge who has weighed the government’s evidence in lawsuits brought by scores of detainees who are challenging their detentions.



The New York Times notes that in 2002, “President Bush made the government’s allegations against the men a showcase of his administration’s approach to dealing with terrorists. He said in his State of the Union address (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/us/21guantanamo.html?hp) that the six men had been planning a bomb attack on the United States Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia.” Glenn Greenwald writes that the ruling demonstrates the “grotesque injustices we have wrought (http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/11/20/guantanamo/index.html) with Guantanamo and our denial of basic due process to detainees
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SEVEN YEARS !!!!!

[_jonas]

awesome. finally some Justice.
49esza4eiK4

[saysmydoctor]

I love that album.