US Judge Rules
Guantanamo tribunals unconstitutional
AFP, Washington
A US federal judge Monday ruled that military tribunals for international terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base are unconstitutional, leaving in doubt the fate of hundreds of detainees at the US-run detention center in Cuba. The administration of President George W. Bush, which created the tribunals, contested the ruling, noting that an earlier Federal Court ruling had supported US policy toward Guantanamo detainees. "We respectfully disagree with the decision," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. After considering court appeals filed by 11 "enemy combatants" held at the facility, "the court concludes that the petitioners have stated valid claims under the Fifth Amendment to the United State Constitution," Judge Joyce Hens Green wrote in her ruling, adding that the detentions "violate the petitioners rights to due process of law." The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution states that no one under US jurisdiction can be "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." The court also found that some of the detainees, are in fact, covered by the Geneva Conventions. "The court holds that at least some of the petitioners have stated valid claims under the third Geneva Convention," according to a declassified version of the federal ruling which was posted Monday on the court's website.
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