US Supreme Court takes up key Guantanamo rights case

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WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Supreme Court on Wednesday began considering the right of Guantanamo prisoners to challenge their detention in civilian courts, in a landmark case over "war on terror" detainee rights.

The case, which has drawn attention from rights activists and governments around the world, centers on whether it is constitutionally legal for the US Congress to block detainees from attempting to fight their detentions in non-military courts.

It is "the most important case of the decade," according to the Center for Constitution Rights, which is coordinating the defense for Guantanamo detainees, most of whom have spent nearly six years in custody without charge.

"The extent of their detention is irrelevant," said Justice John Roberts, one of two conservative justices nominate by US President George W. Bush in 2005, as the nine-judge panel opened its hearing on the issue.

"I thought this was already decided," said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal named during the administration of former president Bill Clinton.

The Supreme Court took up the issue of Guantanamo inmates in 2004 and again in 2006, ruling both times that detainees had a statutory -- legal but not constitutional -- right to contest their indefinite detention before an independent judge, a legal process known as habeas corpus.

But, urged by the Bush administration, last year Congress passed new legislation that forbid them from seeking justice in a federal court until they are judged by a special military tribunal.

Wednesday's hearing was to focus on whether Congress overstepped its power in passing the new law denying prisoners any habeas corpus rights under the constitution.

Prominent conservative Justice Antonin Scalia said "there is not a single case" that showed legal precedent in the matter.

One of the detainees' attorney, Seth Waxman, argued that US law should apply in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because it is an area under US control.

"The US government has complete jurisdiction and control over this place. No other law applies. If the US law doesn't apply, it is a law-free zone," Waxman said.

While the appeal to the highest US court involves only a handful of the 300 or so "war on terror" detainees at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the court's decision will affect all of those in the prison camp, especially the roughly 150 who have been neither charged nor released.

"To the outside world it boils down to the simple, but crucial, question of whether the system of legal norms that purports to restrain the conduct of States vis-a-vis individuals within their power will survive the terrorist threat," said an amicus curiae brief of 383 European parliamentarians filed with the case.

Past arguments have focused on the constitution's authorizing a suspension of habeas corpus rights only in circumstances of a rebellion or an invasion, and on the issue of whether constitutional rights extend to Guantanamo Bay, a small chunk of Cuban territory controlled by the US military.

The government has warned that if the court authorizes Guantanamo detainees to seek a hearing with a federal judge, nothing would prevent US military prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere from demanding the same rights.

Justices have indicated that a significant part of their deliberations will center on so-called combatant status review tribunals (CSRTs), the military tribunals which have labeled hundreds of suspects at Guantanamo as "enemy combatants."

The government says CSRTs provide detainees the ability to challenge their detentions. But defense lawyers say the tribunals are meaningless, pointing to the fact that some detainees deemed no longer to be enemy combatants still languish in Guantanamo.

"Everybody loses under the current system, because you have innocent men who were taken and had no opportunity to present their case," said lawyer David Cynamon, who represents four Kuwaitis being held at Guantanamo.

In an editorial Wednesday, The New York Times called the case in front of the conservative court, which has recently generally favored the Bush administration, "a key moment for justice."

The Washington Post said that while the constitution should not be extended to all US detainees in all places abroad, "it would be reasonable to recognize such rights for those detained in Guantanamo. The United States is the sole and unchallenged jailer there."

The court is not expected to issue its ruling until late June 2008.