EVIL B*SH CULT Policy Comes Under Fire for Ignoring 'Fundamental Rights'

[Karenca]

Judge Backs Guantanamo Detainee Challenges
Bush Policy Comes Under Fire for Ignoring 'Fundamental Rights'

WASHINGTON (Jan. 31) - A federal judge ruled Monday that some foreign terror suspects held in Cuba can challenge their confinement in U.S. courts and she criticized the Bush administration for holding hundreds of people without legal rights.

Judge Joyce Hens Green, handling claims filed by more than 50 detainees, said the Supreme Court made clear last year that they have constitutional rights that lower courts should enforce.

The war on terror ''cannot negate the existence of the most basic fundamental rights for which the people of this country have fought and died for well over 200 years,'' she wrote.

The decision conflicts with a ruling two weeks ago by another federal judge based in Washington. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon found that last year's landmark Supreme Court ruling did not provide detainees at Guantanamo Bay the legal basis to win their freedom.

About 550 detainees are being held at the U.S. Navy base, accused of being enemy combatants.

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[Karenca]

1. Guantanamo Tribunals Ruled Unconstitutional by Judge-Detainees Entitled to

Detainees Entitled to 'Due Process of Law'

WASHINGTON (Jan. 31) - A U.S. judge ruled Monday that the Guantanamo military tribunals for terrorism suspects are unconstitutional.
In a setback for the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green also ruled the prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have constitutional protections under the law.

''The court concludes that the petitioners have stated valid claims under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and that the procedures implemented by the government to confirm that the petitioners are 'enemy combatants' subject to indefinite detention violate the petitioners' rights to due process of law,'' Green wrote.

More than 540 suspects are being held at Guantanamo after being detained during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and in other operations in the U.S. ''war against terrorism.'' They are al-Qaida suspects and accused Taliban fighters.
Bush administration attorneys argued the prisoners have no constitutional rights and their lawsuits, challenging the conditions of their confinement and seeking their release, must be dismissed.

The tribunals, formally called a military commission, at the base were authorized by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but have been criticized by human rights groups as being fundamentally unfair to defendants.
Green's 75-page opinion was the unclassified version made available for public release. It stemmed from 11 cases involving Guantanamo prisoners.

Her ruling probably will not be the final word on the issue. A different federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19 dismissed the cases of seven Guantanamo prisoners on the grounds that they have no recognizable constitutional rights and are subject to the military review process.
The cases could be appealed to the U.S. appeals court, and then ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited

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[rkc3]

2. Sounds like another "activist" judge - she'll be gone by year's end.

[NationalEnquirer]

3. At least SOMEONE gets it.

How long before they impeach this judge?

[Karenca]

4. or she's found dead in a small plane wreck?.......nt

[NationalEnquirer]

5. Hah! Right, stick to flying airliners..