WASHINGTON — In a victory for the White House, a U.S. appeals court Tuesday threw out the legal claims brought on behalf of the hundreds of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay and ruled that they did not have a right to plead their innocence in an American court.
In a 2-1 decision, the judges said the Constitution did not extend the right of habeas corpus to noncitizens held outside the sovereign territory of this country. "Cuba -- not the United States -- has sovereignty over Guantanamo Bay," Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote.
The ruling sets the stage for a historic showdown in the Supreme Court over whether the White House and Congress can deny habeas corpus -- the right to go before a judge and ask to be released -- to terrorism suspects, some of whom have been held for years without charges.
Guantanamo prisoners: An article in Wednesday's Section A about an appeals court ruling that denied prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, access to U.S. courts said the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2002. The invasion was in 2001.
Tuesday's decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington vindicates, at least for now, a tactical move made by White House lawyers shortly after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2002. The Bush administration wanted the military to be able to indefinitely hold and intensively interrogate foreign fighters and suspected terrorists without interference from the federal courts. They chose the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because it was close but outside U.S. territory.
In the years since then, civil libertarians and advocates for the detainees have been trying to win a hearing before an independent judge. There, they could argue that at least some of these men were not terrorists and were being wrongly held.
The Bush administration has fought to prevent the detainees from having their claims heard in court. Meanwhile, across Europe and throughout much of the world, Guantanamo Bay has come to symbolize what the administration's critics say are harsh tactics and contempt for international opinion.
Though former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld once referred to the Guantanamo detainees as the "worst of the worst," none has been tried and hundreds have been released and sent back to their home countries.
Late last year, the then-Republican-controlled Congress passed the Military Commissions Act, which made it clear that "enemy combatants" held outside the U.S. may not file claims in U.S. courts. Tuesday's ruling upheld that law.
Lawyers plan appeal
Lawyers for the detainees condemned the ruling and said they would take their case to the Supreme Court.
