Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Federal judge dismisses Afghan Bagram detainee habeas petition

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday dismissed a habeas corpus challenge brought by Afghan national Haji Wazir detained at Bagram Air Base without charges since 2002. Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed Wazir's petition, finding that Section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, outlining habeas corpus matters, did not violate the separation of powers principle laid out by the US Supreme Court in United States v. Klein. Bates had ordered rehearing on the Klein question in April, after granting habeas petitions filed by three non-Afghan detainees held at Bagram. Bates said Wazir's case required different consideration under Boumediene v. Bush, since his release was likely to cause "friction with the host country." Bates said he would not consider altering his April judgment in light of new evidence presented by Wazir without a motion for reconsideration under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) or 60(b). Earlier this month, Bates certified and suspended his April order, allowing an interlocutory appeal on whether the detainees may invoke the Constitution's Suspension Clause. The DC District Court has been the venue for many habeas challenges, especially for Guantanamo detainees suspected of involvement with terrorism. In April, DC Circuit Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered that Afghan Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Jawad, detained since he was a teenager, be allowed to challenge his detention in federal courts without delay. Last month, Jawad's military lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court of Afghanistan to demand his release from the facility. Also last month, former Guantanamo detainee Lakhdar Boumediene, whose Supreme Court challenge secured detainees' ability to challenge their detention in federal court, was released and sent to France.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 30, 2009 (boomark / email).