Reporting from Washington — In the evolving law surrounding rights of combatants detained by the U.S. military, a federal judge ruled today that prisoners in "the war on terror" can use courts in the United States to challenge their detention at a military base in Afghanistan.
U.S. District Judge John Bates today rejected an attempt by the U.S. to deny access to American courts for three foreign detainees at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Supreme Court already has ruled that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in court. But the government had maintained that this right did not extend to prisoners held in Afghanistan.
Bates, calling the cases essentially identical, cited last year's Supreme Court ruling repeatedly, applying its test to each of three prisoners who have been held for several years at Bagram -- the first time that a federal judge has applied the high court's ruling to detainees in Afghanistan. The three detainees at Bagram, a sprawling U.S. air base in Afghanistan, are from other countries -- Fadi al Maqaleh and Amin al Bakri from Yemen; Redha al-Najar, Tunisia.
The judge reserved ruling on another prisoner, Haji Wazir, who is an Afghan citizen. Releasing him could create "practical obstacles in the form of friction with the host country," Bates ruled, ordering Wazir and the government to file additional memos addressing this.
All four were captured outside of Afghanistan and have been held at the airfield for six years or more. Bates ruled that the decision to hold them as "enemy combatants" is part of a process even more inadequate at Bagram than it is at Guantanamo.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
mdsilva@tribune.com
