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US Court: Military's Prisoners in Afghanistan Have No Rights
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/25
In Christmas Eve ruling, judges say U.S. Constitution does not apply to notorious Bagram prison
US Court: Military's Prisoners in Afghanistan Have No Rights
- Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Published on Wednesday, December 25, 2013 by Common Dreams
In a Christmas Eve ruling that passed with little fanfare, three U.S. Appeals Court Judges gave their legal stamp of approval to indefinite detentions without trial for prisoners of the U.S. military in occupied Afghanistan.
In a 44-page decision, penned by George H.W. Bush appointee Judge Karen Henderson, the habeas corpus petitions filed by five captives at Afghanistan's infamous Bagram military prison—known to some as the "Other Guantanamo"—were rejected.
The petitions were invoking the men's rights to challenge unlawful detention—rights recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court for Guantanamo Bay inmates (though not fully implemented in practice).
The ruling claimed there are "significant differences between Bagram and Guantanamo" because "our forces at Bagram... are actively engaged in a war with a determined enemy."