Suit by Afghanistan Detainee OK’d
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a petition for habeas corpus filed by a Yemeni detainee in Afghanistan.
U.S. District Judge John Bates of Washington, D.C., said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in an appeal by Guantanamo Bay detainees could determine the outcome in the Yemeni case.
The ruling is the first in a suit filed for a foreign detainee outside of Guantanamo Bay, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The suit was filed on behalf of Fadi Al Maqaleh, being held in military detention at Bagram, Afghanistan. About 650 detainees are at the facility.
Lawyer Tina Foster said she learned of Al Maqaleh’s plight while in Afghanistan to help in the defense of Guantanamo detainees. “A lot of families came to me saying there were worse problems at Bagram than at Guantanamo,” she told the newspaper.
Bates said the suit should not be dismissed given the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to reverse course and accept the Guantanamo case, Boumediene v. Bush, No. 06-1195. At issue is whether habeas corpus protection limited to American citizens and U.S. territory. (For more details see this ABAJournal.com post.)
“Given the significance of the issues pending before the Supreme Court in Boumediene, the court concludes that the most sensible course following the belated grants of certiorari is to deny [the government’s] motion to dismiss,” Bates wrote. He said the government may refile its motion to dismiss if warranted by the ruling in Boumediene.
The ruling is Al Maqaleh v. Gates, No. 06-1669 (JDB).
