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Federal judge upholds continued detention of 2 Yemeni Guantanamo detainees

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

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that the government can continue to hold indefinitely two Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainees, even though the men had been cleared for release by the Bush administration two years ago. Judge Gladys Kessler denied the petitions for habeas corpus filed by Fahmi Salem Al-Assani and Suleiman Awadh Bin Agil Al-Nahdi. The men had been notified of their release in 2008, but the decision was suspended when President Barack Obama took office. Full text of the opinions explaining Kessler's reasoning will be made public after passing a security clearance. Nearly half of the 188 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo Bay are from Yemen. Last month, a Yemeni government official said that Yemen will build a rehabilitation center for Guantanamo Bay detainees. The Obama administration has suspended the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen after learning that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, accused of trying to ignite explosives on a US-bound plane in December, had allegedly received his training in Yemen. Earlier in January, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the detention of Yemeni Guantanamo detainee Ghaleb Nassar Al-Bihani, ruling that he can remain in US custody, but, in December, the US government transferred six detainees back to Yemen. Also in December, a federal judge granted Yemeni detainee Saeed Hatim's petition for habeas corpus, ordering his release.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).