Guantanamo detainees have constitutional rights

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Friday June 13, 2008 18:13 by Bazooka Joe

The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that detainees held at Guantanamo Bay have the right to appeal their indefinite imprisonment without charges to US civilian courts

In a stinging rebuke to Bush's 'war on terror' the US Supreme Court has ruled that the kidnap victims at Guantanamo Bay Concentration Camp have the right to appeal the illegal detention to the Civil courts in the US. This may result in federal judges ultimately ordering the release of some detainees.

The ruling declares that the detainees have the same rights to contest their detention before a judge as anyone else in custody in the United States. Bush's administration had argued that the detainees have no rights.

The Supreme court has twice ruled that detainees can go into civilian courts to ask that the government justify their continued detention but on each occaision the administration and Congress changed the law to keep the detainees without legal recourse.

Lawyers for some detainees said hearings could take place within a few months. About 200 detainees have lawsuits on hold in the federal court in the US.