US appeals court upholds denial of habeas corpus rights to Guantánamo detainees

The 2-1 ruling in the combined cases of Al Odah v. USA and Boumediene v. Bush defends the creation of a category of prisoners denied the most basic democratic rights. It upholds a central component of an October 2006 law, the Military Commissions Act, depriving “alien unlawful enemy combatants” of the writ of habeas corpus.

The case was brought by lawyers representing most of the 400 prisoners currently held at Guantánamo Bay.

As the World Socialist Web Site editorial board wrote at time of the passage of the Military Commissions Act, “The legislation adopted by the House of Representatives Wednesday and the Senate Thursday, legalizing the Bush administration’s policy of torture and indefinite detention without trial, as well as kangaroo-court procedures for Guantánamo detainees, marks a watershed for the United States.

“For the first time in American history, Congress and the White House have agreed to set aside the provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and formally adopt methods traditionally identified with police states.”

Habeas corpus is a cornerstone of democratic rights extending back at least as far as the Magna Carta of 1215. It grants a prisoner the right to go to court to challenge his or her detention, and is therefore a fundamental guarantee against arbitrary imprisonment. For this reason, it is being attacked as part of an attempt to establish unconstrained executive power in the United States.

In denying the right of habeas corpus to prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, the Military Commissions Act denies these prisoners all rights and legal protection. Shayana Kadidal, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents many of the detainees, noted in a press release, “This decision empowers the president to do whatever he wishes to prisoners without any legal limitation as long as he does it offshore, and encourages such notorious practices as extraordinary rendition and a contempt for international human rights law.”

The basic issue involved in the case decided Tuesday is whether or not Congress acted constitutionally when it deprived the Guantánamo detainees of their habeas corpus rights. The majority on the appeals court panel (consisting of judges A. Raymond Randolph, who wrote the opinion, and David Sentelle) says that it did, while the dissenter (Clinton appointee Judge Judith Rogers) says it did not. The case will be appealed to the Supreme Court, where, with the addition of right-wing Bush appointees Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Joseph Alito, the appeals court decision stands a good chance of being upheld.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/guan-f21.shtml