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2 Dozen Gitmo Prisoners Win Court Cases
All but 3 who got hearings were found wrongfully detained
By Jason Farago
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Posted Jan 19, 09 4:26 AM CST
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(Newser)
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At least 24 detainees at Guantanamo Bay have won cases in federal court or military tribunals voiding their detention in the last 3 months. While the Bush administration has insisted that the prisoners who remain at Gitmo are "the worst of the worst," there was apparently no legal reason to detain nearly 10% of them. The timing of the decisions puts yet more pressure on the Obama administration to review all Guantanamo cases, reports the New York Times.
Since the Supreme Court ruled in Boumediene v. Bush that detainees have a right to habeas corpus, the government has lost almost every case brought before a judge or a tribunal. Last week the Bush administration repatriated an Afghan detainee who was held at Gitmo for 6 years, despite having fought the Taliban and supported the American-backed government in Afghanistan. He had been named as a terrorist, the Times notes, by Taliban collaborators who wanted his job and his car. His brother, who fought for his release, noted that he has a wife and children, including one son "who has never seen his father."