WASHINGTON, June 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Supreme Court
ruled on Thursday that foreign terrorism prisoners held in U.S. Navy base in
Guantanamo, Cuba, can challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.
In response, the White House said that President
George W. Bush, who is currently in his visit to Europe, has expressed strong
disagreement with the Supreme Court ruling for not keeping American people safe,
but he said he would abide by the decision.
In this image reviewed by the U.S.
Military, two soldiers talk at dawn at the entrance to a hangar at
Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba June 6, 2008. U.S. Supreme
Court ruled on Thursday that foreign terrorism prisoners held in U.S. Navy
base in Guantanamo, Cuba, can challenge their detention in U.S. civilian
courts. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
"It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree
with those who dissented," Bush said in Rome. "And that dissent was based upon
their serious concerns about U.S. national security."
He also said that his administration would study the
ruling to determine whether or not additional legislation might be appropriate
"so we can safely say to the American people," according to the White House.
For his part, the Pentagon chief, Robert Gates, who
is attending a NATO conference in Brussels, Belgium, said that the defense
department was examining the implications of the Supreme Court ruling.
"Obviously we're going to have to take a look at it.
And see what the implications are. But the ruling of the court is the law of the
land. And we will have to look at what the implications are for us," he said.
In this image reviewed by the U.S.
Military, soldiers in a Humvee patrol the perimeter of the Camp Delta
detention compound at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba June 6,
2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
By voting 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled that the
Guantanamo Bay foreign prisoners "have the constitutional privilege of habeas
corpus" to challenge their detention before U.S. federal judges.
"We hold these petitioners do have the habeas corpus
privilege," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court majority in the 70-page
opinion. "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in
force, in extraordinary times."
The liberal-dominated justices found that the Navy
base, in fact, was operating as if it were on U.S. soil, so its detainees
deserved the same constitutional rights as all other Americans.
The Thursday's ruling was the third blow to Bush's
"war on terrorism" policies. The Supreme Court ruled in 2004 and again in 2006
that Guantanamo detainees had a statutory -- legal but not constitutional --
right to contest their indefinite detention before an independent judge.
But Bush administration still pushed through the
Republican-dominated Congress in 2006 a law that only allowed for a limited
review by a U.S. appeals court in Washington of the military's designation of
the prisoners as an "enemy combatant," but took away the habeas corpus rights
from the terrorism suspects to seek full judicial review of their detention.
However, Kennedy said that Congress did not create an
adequate alternative for Guantanamo prisoners to contest their detention.
On the other hand, Chief Justice John Roberts
criticized the Thursday his colleagues who voted for the ruling for striking
down "the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens
detained by this country as enemy combatants."
Another dissenter, Justice Samuel Alito said that the
ruling would make the "war with radical Islamists" harder for Americans and
cause more Americans to be killed.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, despite
the fact that hundreds who have been released to various countries from
Guantanamo that was after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, there are still 275
remaining in the prison, classified as enemy combatants and held on suspicion of
terrorism or links to al Qaida and the Taliban, some of whom have been held more
than 6 years.
In addition to those held without charges, the United
States has said it plans to try as many as 80 of the detainees in war crimes
tribunals.
The prison was also strongly criticized at home and
abroad for U.S. military and intelligence officials' harsh interrogation tactics
conducted there.
Bush has said that he would like to close the
facility once other countries are willing to take the prisoners, which was also
supported by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic
rival Barack Obama.
WASHINGTON, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Defense Department
said on Tuesday that it was inviting news media to cover the trial of five
terrorist suspects in the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Pentagon would
allow about "four or five dozen" journalists and technical personnel from
domestic and international news organizations to witness the trial set on June
5.
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. government's efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have come to a "standstill" due to procedural problems.
In a testimony before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee on May 24, Gates said there are "about 70" detainees whom the United States is prepared to send back to their home countries.
