US judge lets Afghanistan detainees’ habeas challenge proceed

Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled March 31 that three detainees being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan can proceed with habeas corpus challenges to their detention. The court’s order rejects three of four motions brought by the US government to dismiss the habeas petitions of four foreign nationals, including one Afghan national, captured outside of Afghanistan and brought to Bagram, where they are currently held. The court’s decision focused on whether the detainees, Fadi al-Maqaleh, Amin al-Bakri, Redha al-Najar, and Afghan national Haji Wazir, could invoke the Constitution’s Suspension Clause. (Jurist, April 2)

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