By DPA – Nov 22, 2005, 19:00 GMT
Manama – Human rights activists and lawyers on Tuesday pleaded with the families of 38 Saudi detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to sign documents allowing them to represent their relatives in U.S. courts.
The lawyers are hoping to file cases on behalf of the Guantanamo detainees before a proposed resolution denying prisoners the right to challenge their detention is voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The resolution, if passed, would ban Guantanamo detainees from challenging their detention in federal courts, while allowing them the right to appeal if convicted.
By DPA – Nov 22, 2005, 19:00 GMT
Manama – Human rights activists and lawyers on Tuesday pleaded with the families of 38 Saudi detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to sign documents allowing them to represent their relatives in U.S. courts.
The lawyers are hoping to file cases on behalf of the Guantanamo detainees before a proposed resolution denying prisoners the right to challenge their detention is voted on in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The resolution, if passed, would ban Guantanamo detainees from challenging their detention in federal courts, while allowing them the right to appeal if convicted.
On November 15, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of the legislation.
‘This will affect the cases of all the prisoners including the Saudis,’ said Nabeel Rajab, vice president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).
Lawyers were hurrying to file remaining cases on behalf of the detainees in case the law prevented any future challenges, he said.
If passed, there is still a possibility the U.S. president might veto the legislation, which contains a clause banning the use of torture or cruel treatment at home or abroad.
Columbia University School of Law professor, Michael I. Sovern, said the vote to curb ‘habeas corpus’ petitions by Guantanamo Bay detainees threatened the ‘unwritten’ constitution.
‘The amendment reflects a remarkable degree of deference to the military and the executive branch – and arguably, an equally remarkable degree of distrust of, even contempt for, the federal courts,’ he said.
Conceding the amendment was probably, technically speaking, constitutionally valid, he argued it violated the ‘unwritten constitution’ which rejects any interference with the independence of the judiciary.
According to the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights, the majority of detainees at Guantanamo Bay are Arabs, mostly from Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The CCR, which appointed lawyers for more than 40 Saudi detainees, is working with the BCHR to help appointing lawyers for remaining prisoners.
On November 5, the U.S. released one Saudi detainee and transferred three others to Bahrain, where they were later released, bringing the number of people who have been freed from the centre to 256, mostly Europeans.
There are currently approximately 500 detainees at Guantanamo Bay.