Al Bahlul

Latest in Al Bahlul

Military Commission

Court of Military Commissions Review Upholds Life Sentence for al-Bahlul

On March 21, the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR) upheld Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul’s conviction and life sentence for conspiracy to commit war crimes. The court also dismissed Bahlul’s challenge that the military commission that convicted him lacked jurisdiction because the appointment of the convening authority (CA) for the military commissions was statutorily and constitutionally improper.

Military Commissions

A Summary of the Al Bahlul Decision

Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul is a Yemeni citizen, currently held in Guantanamo Bay, who was convicted in a military commission under the 2006 Military Commissions Act for “inchoate conspiracy” to commit war crimes. After several rounds of judicial review, a D.C. Circuit panel in 2015 heard a challenge to his conviction on Article I and Article III grounds.

Military Commissions

DC Circuit Upholds Conspiracy Conviction in al-Bahlul

In an en banc decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Ali Hamza al-Bahlul's conviction by military commission for conspiracy to commit war crimes. The decision is the opposite of the court's panel decision last June, which vacated al-Bahlul's conviction. The court's decision is also available here.

Guantanamo

The Misbegotten Court of Military Commission Review

Anyone following the Guantánamo military commissions would do well to read Bob Loeb and Helen Klein's trenchant take on last Friday's D.C. Circuit decision in In re Khadr, in which the Court of Appeals declined to issue a writ of mandamus even while agreeing that there may be a serious question "whether the civilians who serve as judges on the U.S.

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