Litigation

Release Ordered for Gitmo Detainee

By Peter Hardin

A federal judge in Washington ordered the release this week of Mohamedou Ould Slahi of Mauritania, once described as “the highest value detainee” imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

Judge James Robertson’s decision, ruling in effect that there were no legal grounds for the government to hold the suspected al Qaeda organizer, was classified. It set off a round of criticism from Republican critics of the Obama administration, and could complicate negotiations on Capitol Hill directed at closing the Guantanamo Bay facility, The Hill newspaper reported.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., contended that Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department “should appeal this outrageous decision, [but] I?m not holding my breath…Holder seems more intent on closing Guantánamo Bay than keeping terrorists locked up where they belong.?

The 9/11 commission described the Mauritanian as a “significant al Qaeda operative” with ties to the terror attack hijackers, a Reuters article reported. A military investigator once assigned to Slahi’s case, who subsequently resigned, discovered evidence that Slahi had been beaten and tortured psychologically, according to The Hill.

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, discussed the latest options for detainees being considered by the Obama administration, and the response of human rights activists, in an article headlined, “Obama backtracking on detainee rights, critics say.”

You can learn more about issues surrounding the terror detainees from Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 25, 2010 (boomark / email).