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| Judge Blocks the Transfer of 13 Detainees From Guantänamo |
| 2005-03-14 |
| Ah, no, it's not some judge playing hardball... A federal judge on Saturday prohibited the government from transferring 13 Yemeni prisoners from the military's detention facility at Guantänamo Bay, Cuba, until a hearing could be held on their lawyers' fear that they might face torture if sent to another country. But with all the sob stories I hear, I thought they were all already being tortured down at Gitmo? I guess we must have kinder, gentler torture. The ruling by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of United States District Court was the first action on at least five emergency petitions filed since Friday by lawyers for Guantänamo detainees after they learned from news reports that the government is seeking to transfer hundreds of prisoners to their home countries."We're relieved," said Marc Falkoff, a lawyer for the Yemenis. "If they were moved, the jurisdiction of the court over the case would effectively be dissolved." Don't worry, Americans. Judge Rosemary M. Collyer and Attorney Marc Falkoff have got your back. Barbara Olshansky, deputy director for litigation at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who helped coordinate the detainees' legal representation, said she expected lawyers for all the detainees to file similar actions by Sunday. She said she would seek an order on behalf of several hundred detainees whose names are not known to the lawyers. Mohammed Doe, Achmed Doe, Mohammed Achmed Doe, Mohammed Achmed Jihad Doe... just a bunch of guys caught in Afghanistan checking out the school system before they moved the wife and kids over, right, Babs? The judge's order puts at least a temporary roadblock in the way of the administration's plans to transfer at least half of the 540 detainees at Guantänamo to prisons in other countries, chiefly Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen. John Nowacki, a Justice Department spokesman, said late Saturday that government lawyers were reviewing the ruling and had no immediate comment. The government argues that all the prisoners were members of the Qaeda terrorist network or the Taliban in Afghanistan, or have ties to those groups. Mr. Falkoff said that after talking to his clients during two weeklong visits to the detention center and reviewing government documents, he did not believe they were terrorists. He said he believed one was an aid worker, another was a medic and a third was a 17-year-old who had traveled to Afghanistan to teach children the Koran. He acknowledged that he did not have independent corroboration for their stories. But he believes them because...they look like they're honest guys who were framed by Bushitler and those other... bad, evil guys. I wonder if he'll adopt them and bring them home with him? The ruling bans any transfer of the Yemenis until a hearing can be held on their lawyers' request for at least 30 days' notice before any transfer takes place. Ms. Olshansky said the notice would permit the lawyers to determine whether their clients willingly accepted the transfer to a prison in their home countries, or whether they feared they would be tortured or indefinitely detained without trial. I thought that was the lawyers main bitches about Gitmo? "We want to find out where they're being sent and ask them if they want to go there," she said. "If the answer is yes, fine." Have the good counselor check with the Yemenis about getting them into the "repentance" program. I'm sure that would meet with his approval. Also on Saturday, the Defense Department announced that it had transferred three detainees from Guantänamo to Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan for release, bringing the number of detainees who have left the naval base to 214. A tribunal reviewing the status of detainees found that they no longer qualified as enemy combatants, according to a department statement that provided no other details about the transfers, citing "operational and security considerations." Sounds like all the infidel torture hookers and brain sucking machines are all worn out by now. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #3 Pleeeze, yr Honor, pleeeze don't toss us into the briarpatch .... heh. Anyone else see the irony in getting a judge to rule we have to keep these guys in Gitmo? Not that I think we were angling to do it, just that the irony oozes here .... |
| Posted by: too true 2005-03-14 8:42:49 PM |
| #2 "their lawyers’ fear that they might face torture if sent to another country." Ahem, I thought WE we torturing the prisoners and the Arabs were everything nice to people. Maybe RC has the right idea, just marching them out at noon and dispatch each of them. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-03-14 8:10:33 PM |
| #1 "Your Honor, we've decided you're right. We cannot transfer these unlawful combatants to the custody of another nation. For that reason, they have all been executed by hanging at sunrise this morning. Thank you for your time." |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-03-14 12:30:54 PM |