Latest in Detention & Guantanamo
Earlier today, the Pentagon announced that Ahmed al-Darbi, a Guantanamo Bay detainee who pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors, has been repatriated to his native Saudi Arabia pursuant to the terms of his settlement agreement.
Thursday morning, Judge Rosemary Collyer of the D.C. federal district court will hear argument on whether the government may be compelled to examine Guantanamo Bay detainee and alleged 9/11 conspirator Mohammed al-Qahtani to determine whether he is “eligible for direct repatriation.” Al-Qahtani, whom U.S.
In January, I wrote about the petition filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in D.C.
On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Al-Alwi v. Trump. Chief Judge Merrick Garland, Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson (joining remotely) and Judge Thomas Griffith reviewed the D.C. District Court’s dismissal of Guantanamo detainee Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi’s second habeas petition.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument on Tuesday in Al-Alwi v. Trump. The panel was composed of Chief Judge Merrick Garland and Judges Karen Henderson and Thomas Griffith. Sonia M. Carson argued for the government. Ramzi Kassem argued for al-Alwi.
Listen to the full audio of the argument here.
Khalid Ahmed Qassim, a Guantanamo Bay detainee from Yemen who made international headlines by writing in the Guardian about his hunger strike protesting his treatment, submitted multiple filings to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 22: a Joint Status Report (alongside the Department of Justice), a motion in limine, and a prehearing brief. This post will summarize each of these three filings.
On Tuesday, March 20, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit will hear oral argument in Al-Alwi v. Trump, the case of Guantanamo detainee Moath Hamza Ahmed al-Alwi. Chief Judge Merrick Garland and Judges Karen Henderson and Thomas Griffith will review D.C. District Court Judge Richard Leon’s February 2017 dismissal of al-Alwi’s second habeas petition.
Yesterday, U.S. officials indicated that Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed al-Darbi’s repatriation to his native Saudi Arabia to serve the remainder of his sentence would be delayed past the Feb. 20 deadline set forth in his 2014 plea agreement. The full statement by the spokesperson for the Office of Military Commissions, provided in response to an inquiry by the Miami Herald, reads as follows:
On Jan.
Has the U.S. government’s authority to use military detention under the 2001 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) quietly expired? So argue a group of eleven Guantanamo detainees in a habeas corpus petition filed last week.
The petition raises significant questions, but I find it unpersuasive. Here’s why:
1. A threshold issue: Haven’t these detainees already pursued habeas relief?