Chinese Detainees' Lawyers Will Take Case to High Court

[Rose Siding]

Lawyers for a group of Chinese nationals held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with no hope of release are taking the rare step of asking the Supreme Court to intervene immediately, saying only the high court can resolve the constitutional crisis their case presents.

Attorneys for the detained Uighurs, Muslim natives of western China who oppose their country's Communist rule, are scheduled to petition the court as early as today. They seek a break in the impasse created when U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled last month that the Bush administration's "Kafka-esque" detention of the Uighurs was illegal but he simultaneously determined that the court lacked the power to overrule the president and free them.

"That ruling doesn't simply hit innocent men now in their fifth year of imprisonment," said Sabin Willett, one of the Uighurs' attorneys. "It goes to whether we have a judicial branch at all. This is that rare question so vital that the Supreme Court should immediately intervene to answer."

Lawyers for the nine Chinese detainees plan to urge the Supreme Court to step into the void, arguing in draft legal documents they provided to The Washington Post that the high court and the public have a major stake when the federal judiciary decides it cannot stop the president from continuing to break the law.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011601033.html

[chat_noir]

1. INNOCENT!!

"That ruling doesn't simply hit innocent men now in their fifth year of imprisonment," said Sabin Willett, one of the Uighurs' attorneys. "It goes to whether we have a judicial branch at all. This is that rare question so vital that the Supreme Court should immediately intervene to answer."


Chinese Muslims stuck in Guantanamo limbo

MAXINE McKEW: Four years have passed since the United States started detaining terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The Administration repeatedly says that the prisoners are killers, terrorists and enemies of America. That's despite the fact that few of the inmates have been charged. What few realise, though, is that some of the prisoners have actually been cleared. They're known as Uighers - Chinese Muslims. The US continues to imprison the men even though an American court has branded their detention unlawful and after an admission by the authorities that they are not enemy combatants. Supporters want the men released and sent to a country such as Australia. It's an amazing story that raises serious questions about the way the war on terror is being prosecuted. North America correspondent Mark Simkin reports.

SABIN WILLETT, LAWYER: The poet Virgil said that there's a heartbreak at the heart of things. That's how I'd sum it up. They would literal - they were literally chained to the floor in one of these huts, as we were shown in to meet them. We are reaching a point where I fear we may soon be in crisis.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT
LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1549632.htm
Broadcast: 17/01/2006

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1549632.htm

[Kagemusha]

2. I keep saying, if Congress does nothing, it's de facto legal.

The courts were never envisioned by themselves to be able to second guess the combination of an Executive Branch during a time of war and a Congress happy to delegate its power to that Executive Branch. If Congress thinks that little of treaties and international obligations, the courts cannot save America from that negligence.

Edit: Kos likes to present the solution as "Elect Democrats". He has a very good point. But that means that these illegalities are de facto legal for at least another year with no remedy, since impeachment won't happen and neither will the administration grow a conscience about this issue.

[mom cat]

3. Then we need new congress critters and we need to put pressure

on the ones we have.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Supreme Court asked to intervene in Gitmo

Supreme Court asked to intervene in Gitmo
Jan 17, 2006, 17:29 GMT


WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court may be asked to intervene in the case of a group of Chinese Muslims held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Lawyers for the nine Uighurs from western China, who oppose their country`s Communist regime, say their clients have no hope for release and that only Supreme Court intervention can resolve their constitutional issues.

They want the high court to resolve an impasse arising from a U.S. district court ruling last week saying the detention was illegal but that it lacked the power to overrule the U.S. president, reports The Washington Post.

The U.S. government agrees the Uighurs were imprisoned by mistake in 2002. It was later determined they were not enemy combatants.
(snip/...)

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1076864.php/Supreme_Court_asked_to_intervene_in_Gitmo

[Canuckistanian]

5. Look for some fast action on this one

If it's a serious challenge, there'll be a quick resolution to this BEFORE it gets to the SC.

Shrub doesn't want ANYONE in Gitmo getting near the SC.

That's what happened with Padilla.

[bettyellen]

6. reason to filibuster, no sep of powers

[mom cat]

8. Absolutely. Alito must be filibustered. Keep at it!

[louis-t]

7. So why are they still there?

CuZ bushie wants them there? Such a strong leader he is! Keeps people locked up for years with no trial, no evidence, no hope cuz he doesn't like them. Saddam Bush has spoken.

[Hobarticus]

9. Gov't agrees the Uighurs were imprisoned by mistake in 2002...it's 2006!

WTFs the hold-up???