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Federal judge orders release of Yemeni Guantanamo detainee

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday granted Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Saeed Hatim's petition for habeas corpus, ordering his release. The US Department of Defense alleged that Hatim trained at the al Farouq paramilitary camp in Afghanistan. Judge Ricardo Urbina's ruling remains sealed, and lawyers have declined to elaborate on his reasoning. A spokesperson for the US Department of Justice said the government is currently considering its options. Urbina's ruling comes just two days after Judge Thomas Hogan denied Yemeni Guantanamo detainee Musa'ab Al-Madhwani's petition for habeas corpus, ruling that the government may continue to detain him. Madhwani allegedly trained at the same camp as Hatim. Hogan excluded from evidence statements Madhwani made to interrogators, finding them to be the product of abusive techniques, but admitted statements made during military hearings because they were given years after the alleged abuse. Hogan found that while he does not believe that Madhwani poses a threat, the government met its burden of proving that he was a member of al Qaeda. Wednesday's ruling brings the total number of granted habeas petitions to 32, with just nine victories for the government.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).