Litigation

Administration to Appeal Bagram Habeas Decision

By Jason Barrett

The Obama Administration will appeal a decision granting habeas rights to detainees held at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, the New York Times reports.  The decision by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates would permit detainees held at Bagram to seek federal court review of their imprisonment. That right is similar to what the U.S. Supreme Court granted to detainees held in Guantanamo Bay last year.

The International Justice Network, a nonprofit legal assistance group, is defending the detainees.  The group’s executive director, Tina Foster, released a statement regarding the decision to appeal:

?Though he has made many promises regarding the need for our country to rejoin the world community of nations, by filing this appeal, President Obama has taken on the defense of one of the Bush administration?s unlawful policies founded on nothing more than the idea that might makes right.?

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 13, 2009 (boomark / email).