From Andy Worthington Author and Journalist
By Andy Worthington

Last Wednesday’s Supreme Court showdown over Guantánamo was billed as “probably the most important habeas corpus case in modern history,” according to Law.com, and “the most important civil liberties case of the past 50 years,” according to the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). This was no understatement. At stake was the validity of the administration’s novel contention, first formulated in November 2001, that it can seize foreigners anywhere in the world, designate them as “enemy combatants” – rather than as criminals or prisoners of war – and hold them indefinitely, without charge or trial.

The very fact that the Supreme Court was discussing the detainees’ rights at all was, in itself, astonishing. Three and a half years ago, in June 2004, the Court ruled in the case of Rasul v. Bush that Guantánamo – chosen as a base for the prison because it was presumed to be beyond the reach of the US courts – was “in every practical respect a United States territory,” and that the detainees had the right to challenge the basis of their detention, under the terms of the 800-year old “Great Writ” of habeas corpus, which prohibits the suspension of prisoners’ rights to challenge the basis of their detention except in “cases of rebellion or invasion.”

In spite of this ruling, the detainees were not granted impartial hearings in a US court. Instead, they were subjected to military reviews at Guantánamo – the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) – which were a lamentable replacement for a valid judicial challenge. Although the detainees were allowed to present their own version of the events that led up to their capture, they were not allowed legal representation, and were subjected to secret evidence that they were unable to see or challenge.

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