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Glimmer of hope
February 01, 2005 ( politics )
If we can get rid of gitmo, we can recover some shred of respect.
Judge backs Guantanamo challengeMany inmates have been held without charge or access to lawyers
A US federal judge in Washington has ruled that special military tribunals being used to try hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are illegal.Judge Joyce Hens Green said the tribunals denied the detainees their basic rights under the US constitution.
Her ruling is a blow to the Bush administration, which argues the inmates have no constitutional rights.
But a BBC correspondent says the decision is unlikely to be the end of the matter.
'Fundamental rights'
Judge Green said the tribunals in 11 cases she had examined were unconstitutional, and that the detainees were not accorded due process of law.
She noted the widespread allegations that detainees were abused during interrogations and said this cast doubt over any confession made under such circumstances.
The war on terror "cannot negate the existence of the most basic fundamental rights for which the people of this country have fought and died for well over 200 years," she wrote.
--BBC
Posted by griffjon at February 1, 2005 08:40 PM
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