The Hindu : International : U.S. court may deal a blow to `war on terror'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 14, 2004

International

International

U.S. court may deal a blow to `war on terror'

By Paul Harris

WASHINGTON, JUNE 13. Its rulings have defined some of the most momentous events in U.S. history, from school desegregation to abortion rights. Now, the Supreme Court is to examine conditions at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison camp and question some of the fundamental principles of the President, George W. Bush's `war on terror'.

In the next fortnight, observers believe the court will deal a massive blow to an administration already reeling from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, and which has endured international outcry over the sprawling Guantanamo Bay prison, whose 700 inmates are held without charge or access to lawyers.

"These sorts of decisions come around for the court maybe once every 20 years. This is very big stuff," said Professor Bill Banks, a Supreme Court expert at Syracuse University. Of the three crucial cases, two involve the treatment of so-called "enemy combatants" and one challenges the status of Guantanamo Bay itself. It will deliver its verdicts by the end of June at the latest, and possibly as early as this week.

The Guantanamo Bay case involves several plaintiffs, including Britons who were released earlier this year. Inmates held at the prison camp, which has been condemned by human rights groups and Governments around the world, have no access to lawyers and face trials in military tribunals. The tribunals take place in secret and there is no right of appeal. So far, only three inmates have been charged, even though many have been there for more than two years.

Yet, the Bush administration has resisted all attempts to challenge conditions at Guantanamo because it says the base is theoretically on Cuban territory.

The Supreme Court is likely to reject that argument. "It is almost inevitable that [the court] will find against the administration," said Professor Lee Albert of the University of Buffalo. That could prompt many more suits in the U.S. as lawyers acting on behalf of Guantanamo detenus register complaints about their treatment there.

In the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, the issue could be hugely damaging. It is widely believed that many of the techniques used in the Iraqi jail were devised by staff originally based at Guantanamo Bay. British prisoners released from the prison alleged systematic torture.

Steven Watt, a lawyer for the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, said it expected many requests to represent detenus if the court rules that the jail comes under U.S. jurisdiction. On a recent visit to Yemen, the birthplace of many of the detenus, the CCR collected statements from 40 people. —

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