High Court Accepts Gitmo Case on Detainees Ordered Released in US
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether federal judges have the power to order Guantanamo detainees to be released into the United States when they are no longer considered a threat.
The appeal was filed by Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs who are no longer classified as enemy combatants, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had ruled that decisions about the release of the detainees must be made by the president and Congress, rather than the courts.
The case, Kiyemba v. Obama, is the first case addressing the war on terrorism that the court has accepted since President Obama took office, SCOTUSblog reports.
The Obama administration argues that the Supreme Court decision Boumediene v. Bush established a right to a habeas appeal for detainees, but did not authorize courts to order their release here.
One of the detainees can’t find a nation willing to accept him, his lawyer told the Supreme Court. Bermuda and Palau have agreed to accept the other 16 Uighur detainees, AP says.
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