WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2008
Judge Orders Gitmo Detainees' Release
Five Algerians Accused Of Planning To Join Al Qaeda May Go Free; Gov't Appeal Likely Says CBS News Legal Analyst
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Judge Orders Gitmo Release
For the first time, a federal judge has ordered the release of 6 Algerian detainees held at Guantanamo Bay who were considered to be enemies of the U.S. Wyatt Andrews explains why.
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Detainees on trial, photos and a history of the naval base.
In the first case of its kind, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the government's evidence linking the five Algerians to al Qaeda was not credible as it came from a single, unidentified source. Therefore, he said the five could not be held indefinitely as enemy combatants and should be released immediately.
"To allow enemy combatancy to rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with the court's obligation," Leon told the crowded courtroom.
As a result, "the court must and will grant the petitioners and order their release," he said.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says the suspects in question are not the dangerous terrorists the Bush administration has been warning Americans about since 9/11. He added that the ruling would also not set a legal precedent for releasing suspected terrorists who are a true threat.
"These men were far from the worst-of-the-worst, or the sorts of 'killers' that the White House has called the detainees at Guantanamo Bay," Cohen said. "So in many ways this is not a true test of the power of the civilian courts to release terror suspects. In other words, the ruling doesn't mean anything to or for Khalid Sheik Mohammed or Ramzi Binalshibh, true terror kingpins."
As for the sixth Algerian, Belkacem Bensayah, Leon said there was enough reason to believe he was close to an al Qaeda operative and had sought to help others travel to Afghanistan to join the terrorists' fight against the United States and its allies.
One of the men to be released is Lakhdar Boumediene, whose landmark Supreme Court case last summer gave the Guantanamo detainees the right to challenge their imprisonment.
The Algerians' attorneys said they would appeal Bensayah's detention but hugged each other and colleagues in congratulations after Leon's ruling.
"It's a relief," said attorney Robert C. Kirsch.
Although it took more than seven years, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews, defense lawyers still called it a victory for American justice.
"It shouldn't have taken this long," said Stephen Olesky. "People locked into the government system based on mistakes that absolutely is what I believe happened.
The Justice Department complained it had to withhold its most secret evidence because of a court order to share it with the defense, Andrews reports. But after a weeks-worth of other secret testimony against the men, a federal judge appointed by President Bush has said there wasn't a case.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 79 CommentsI have always been curious, and wondered, who the American people thought were torturing and murdering in our name."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave
Obama didn''t put them in prison. All 5 would travel to Texas to pay George a visit.
Amazing that the white house can get away with it, but
Civilian law enforcement would be prosecuted in a heart beat.
Posted by scb111_1
Threatening the life of the president is a federal crime, you MORON! You don''t like him, fine, don''t vote for him in 4 years, you''re free to oppose his policies, protest, write letters to the editor, or any other legal means of opposition, but you ARE NOT ALLOWED TO THREATEN the life of the PRESIDENT, NOT EVEN IN JEST! (unless of course you actually like the idea of spending the rest of your pitiful life in Prison!)
Posted by scb111_1
Are you inciting violence against a US president?
Do you realize that, as a result, you could end up sharing a cell with these people whom you obviously despise?
I suspect that your "thought crime" against President-elect Obama is far worse than the alleged "thought crime" of these five people.
AMEN Brother! He is worse than Nixon!
It''''s either that, or America gets destroyed.
How do you like them apples?
Posted by CBSisPravda at 02:15 PM : Nov 20, 2008
See...that''s where you and I differ...actually, that''s where you and most red blooded patriotic Americans differ. I would rather die than stoop to so low a level. I would rather give up every security detail afforded for our "protection" then spend one more moment living in a society that condones torture and the illegal and indefinite detention of other people.
Once Bush OK''d the patriot act and condoned torture, he sent a clear and loud message to OBL...the message was this:
YOU WIN!
He allowed OBL and his ilk to tear down everything sacred about being America and put in its place a tyrannical and irrational fool seemingly hell bent on the destruction of our moral high ground.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Ben Franklin
I hope these guys are released and do whatever they feel like to Bush, Cheney and Co.
Posted by impeach___w at 01:54 PM : Nov 20, 2008
(are people so twisted that they are okay with "death threats" on the President of the United States and the Vice President? Guess so.....next post below shows what I mean....)
Release them all and let them stay in Washington D.C. so they can take out President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009!!!
Posted by scb111_1 at 01:21 PM : Nov 20, 2008
This is a threat to murder the President Elect of the United States. Not only are the comments inappropriate and offensive, they are in violation of federal law. I urge this comment be deleted.
Posted by fsw3 at 01:38 PM : Nov 20, 2008
(See what I mean? Or, are we all gonna play follow the leader? )
Posted by scb111_1 at 03:09 PM : Nov 20, 2008
What makes you so sure they are terrorists? What if they''re innocent? Would you feel bad then, or is your gripe against all Persians and Arabs in general?
Posted by scb111_1 at 03:09 PM : Nov 20, 2008
I say we let em go live with your momma..
Once Bush OK''''d the patriot act and condoned torture, he sent a clear and loud message to OBL...the message was this:
YOU WIN!
Posted by ThinkHarder-
What planet do you live on? The message that was sent is "if you pay mean then we play mean.." as the way it should be.. If they kill one US citizen or solider then we should kill 10 of them.. Fear is the only thing those cockroaches understand.. and until they FEAR the US then they will keep attacking..
Are we using the same rules????
I agree, it''s pretty DUMB to post about doing the potus harm directly after someone sent the thread to the FBI...
DUMB DUMB DUMB....I hope they both get tossed in the clink.
Posted by libsh8theUSA at 03:27 PM : Nov 20, 2008
SPAM!!!!
Bet they are, now.
Anyone who has read the 9-11 Commission report already knows that Bush and his administration were woefully, perhaps criminally, neglegent in failing to stop the attackers. As much of a whitewash that document was (I''ve read it and it was sickening) even it is clear that Bush knew enough soon enough that he could have foiled Atta and his henchmen with little or no effort.
I point this out to bring up the very real probability that this was the hook that His Bushness was looking for to garner support for his reckless war with Iraq. Long before he assumed the Whitehouse, getting Saddam was his wet dream and 9-11 was a perfect opportunity to fulfill it. In short, he willfully ignored the threats
So everything that followed; the disasterous war, the abuses of Guantanamo and Abu Gharib, our own rights being eroded, the wiretapping, Valerie Plame, the Wellstone and Tillman murders, our 9 trillion and counting national debt....All of that stem from the diseased mind of one man who; motivated by personal revenge, apocalypse obsession and slavish obesiance to his oil buddies and corporate masters; has brought us to the sorry state we''re in today.
I will not be sorry to see him leave office.
Posted by impeach___w at 04:22 PM : Nov 20, 2008
------------------------
Actually I don''t think you are in the minority. Reading these threads might make you think that, but remember that these neonuts posting here are very vocal, but small in number.
The problem with your meteor wish is you used the word ''or'' between Bush and Cheney, when you should have used the word ''and''.
I looked for evidence pro or con on this. The only thing I found about it was a couple of right wing blogs. One news site mentioned the Sudan offering FILES about bin Laden, but not the person himself.
How about you prove what you are saying by giving us some references to check?
Will be a Blockbuster next year,
Finally Exposing Shrub & his Hedge-row full of Corporate Thugs,..These Shady characters will have sunlight shining on their Black Hearts as the pus oozes from their flesh !
Nope! Bush had plenty of warning...The Minneapolis office of the FBI had a direct line on several of the hijackers. Had the evidence to arrest and convict them of sedition but were told to lay off.
"The person to blame is President Bill Clinton. He failed to protect our people and homeland..." Posted by mahalapril at 04:39 PM : Nov 20, 2008
From the 1993 attack? How many did that kill? And under whose watch were the culprits switly captured and brought to justice? All of them were tried, convicted and sentenced before Slick Willie left office.
"During Bill Clinton''''s second term Sudan offered to give up Osama Bin Ladin [who was living then in Sudan] to Clinton but Clinton refused." Posted by mahalapril at 04:39 PM : Nov 20, 2008
Sudan did no such thing. You''re getting that info from Sean Hannity who is a politically motivated pathological liar. I READ the 9-11 Commission, remember, and even that disgustingly pro-Bush rag stated; "Clinton administration officials deny ever receiving such an offer. We have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim."
I don''t have much more room to go on but the 9-11 disaster is ALL bush. Clinton had no more to do with it than I did.
Posted by tincup356 at 05:29 PM : Nov 20, 2008
That''s what you get when you try to be the policeman for the World.
Did you actually read the 9-11 Commission report? Didn''t you follow the frustrations of Colleen Rowley and her peers trying to nail down several 9-11 suspects? They had several of them in hand but were told to lay off.
However much Al Quaida and Bin Laden (who by the way are not allies, even now) may have had to do with the attacks, Bush had several opportunities to thwart the 9-11 outrage and did not do so. And I believe that was not incompetence but intentional.
Posted by Mr_Man_2012 at 06:28 PM : Nov 20, 2008
Yeah, they all probably voted for Obama, they need to stay with him in the White House while they await their trials!!!
It wasn''t just Obama, however, that the terrorist smeared, but also Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Those last two names, however, will not raise the ire of anyone in the media, because being black and Republican makes that slur perfectly acceptable.
The terrorist''s insult finally makes it OK for folks on the left to support the War on Terror.
I mean, if there''s anything as awful as bombing our country, it''s being mean to Obama. Calling him names, really, is the equivalent to denigrating the image of Muhammad %u2014 something that usually leads to death threats and flags stabbed into dying directors'' chests.
In my mind, Al Qaeda has made a horrible misstep, for instead of claiming victory as the Republicans were vanquished due to Bush-Hitler''s misdeeds, they chose to make an enemy of a man who by all accounts is simply adored. They''ve done the worst thing possible: They not only kicked a puppy %u2014 they kicked our puppy.
And for that, they''re in for a whole heap of trouble. I anticipate a disappointed shake of the head by our newly appointed leader very soon... followed by a grimace!
Posted by BagdadsHere6 at 07:00 PM : Nov 20, 2008
My point exactly.
Now, with Al Qaeda''s OBL mini-me making fun of Obama, maybe the Left will get mad and rethink how they will approach the War on Terror.
Posted by AJMarine111 at 07:06 PM : Nov 20, 2008
If Obama is half the man I think he is, he will ignore this insulting tirade and focus on quietly getting both Bin Laden and his (mastermind) advisor Zawahiri. He is the real power in Alky ada.
.impeach--w- This just confirms that these younger generation of Americans had been misled by our history books written by Liberals.What do you mean by the pearl harbor incident was just declassified in 1994? There is nothing to declassify .You can even see movies of world War 2. There is something wrong with our educational system. If you don''t know these things somebody is tampering with our history books.
So now that they''ve kicked YOUR puppy, now you want to fight. You''ve moaned for 8 years but now you want to fight. Hypocrit!
Posted by AJMarine111 at 07:06 PM : Nov 20, 2008
That is exactly what they want us to do. They can''t conquer the mid east by themselves without having us as the ''BAD GUYS''. Its the same as waving a red cape at a enraged Bull, he will ''charge'' to his own destruction.
Posted by deathofusa at 07:22 PM : Nov 20, 2008
You obviously don''t know me or what you are talking about to make this statement.
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