Salim Ahmed Hamdan was captured in Afghanistan over 5 years ago, accused of being part of Al Qaeda, and brought to Guantanamo Bay. Hamdan argues that he only worked as a driver at the bin Laden farm and had nothing to do with terrorism, but he won’t get to argue that in court at a fair trial.
The New York Times reported:
In a ruling Wednesday, Judge James Robertson of the Federal District Court here said Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a prisoner at Guantánamo, could no longer contest his detention before a federal court because, Judge Robertson said, Congress this fall explicitly eliminated his right to file a habeas corpus challenge.
The judge said the Military Commissions Act, passed by Congress in September and signed into law by President Bush the following month, was unambiguous in denying Guantánamo detainees the use of a habeas corpus statute. Like Mr. Hamdan, hundreds of other prisoners at the base have challenged their detention, in similar cases.
(“Judge Sets Back Guantánamo Detainees“, NY Times, 12/14/06)
Two years ago Judge Robertson stopped the military commission that was underway and granted Hamdan’s habeus petition. The case was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, resulting in the 5-3 ruling last June that said Bush couldn’t order military commissions without the approval of Congress.
This past September, Congress gave its approval for denying Guantanamo detainees the right to habeus corpus, allowing the President to hold detainees indefinitely on his say-so, and the use of torture when it passed the Military Commissions Act.
And now Hamdan and many more languish in the torture chamber at Guantanamo Bay without any chance for due process. As Judge Robertson ruled, it’s perfectly legal.
That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn – or be forced – to accept.
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