Litigation

?Injustice? Scored in Holding Yemeni Detainee

By Peter Hardin

Any notion that U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay houses only the “worst of the worst” terrorists bent on harming the United States is sharply questioned by a federal judge’s recent ruling and by a Washington Post editorial highlighting it.

District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. granted a motion for the release of Mohamed Mohamed Hassan Odaini (photo at right), 26, with the following scathing criticism of those who have held him for eight years, as the judge was quoted in a Huffington Post commentary:

“Respondents have kept a young man from Yemen in detention in Cuba from age eighteen to age twenty-six. They have prevented him from seeing his family and denied him the opportunity to complete his studies and embark on a career.

“The evidence before the Court shows that holding Odaini in custody at such great cost to him has done nothing to make the United States more secure. There is no evidence that Odaini has any connection to al Qaeda. Consequently, his detention is not authorized by the AUMF [Authorization of the Use of Military Force]. The Court therefore emphatically concludes that Odaini’s motion must be granted.”

Odaini was arrested in a raid on a house where he was guest. But no evidence was presented that he was linked to Al Qaeda, according to Judge Kennedy.  The judge, ruling on a habeas corpus petition, said evidence “overwhelmingly supports Odaini’s contention that he is unlawfully detained.”

Since a Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt by a man who got terrorist training in Yemen, the Obama administration has halted detainee transfers there. An exception should be considered for Odaini, the Post editorial asserts, and “the administration must correct this injustice.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay prison may challenge their detention in U.S. Courts. You can learn  read about disputes involving detainees? rights and related proceedings in federal courts in these earlier Gavel Grab posts.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 16, 2010 (boomark / email).