Supreme Court permits Guantánamo appeal

The US Supreme Court announced on June 29 it will hear an appeal by detainees held at Guantánamo Bay on whether they can challenge their incarceration in federal courts. The move -- which reverses an earlier ruling made by the court in April -- is a further setback for the Bush administration, which had argued that a new law strips courts of their jurisdiction to hear detainees' cases. It is highly unusual for the court to perform such a U-turn. There was no indication of what changed the judges' minds. However, last week lawyers for the detainees filed a statement from a military lawyer criticizing the process the federal government had put forward as an alternative to a review by civilian courts. "This is a stunning victory for the detainees," said Eric Freedman, professor of constitutional law at Hofstra Law School, who has been advising the detainees. "It goes well beyond what we asked for, and clearly indicates the unease up there [in the Supreme Court]." The White House showed no sign of changing its position after the ruling. "We did not think that court review at this time was necessary, but we are confident in our legal position," said a spokesman for the National Security Council. In February, the US circuit court of appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a key provision of a law the Bush administration pushed through Congress. It stripped federal courts of their ability to hear the detainees' challenges. In April the Supreme Court denied the detainees' request to review the February ruling. The detainees then petitioned the court to reconsider its denial. According to Amnesty International, US authorities are now holding 80 percent of Guantánamo's 385 detainees in harsh and inhumane solitary confinement conditions. It claims many prisoners are now dangerously close to full-blown mental and physical breakdown, and says there were three apparent suicides at the camp last year. Some of the detainees have been held at Guantánamo for more than five years. The White House is reportedly considering closing the camp, and key figures such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledge that the continuing controversy over the camp is damaging US interests and standing in the world.