US Weighs New Hearings for Gitmo Detainees

Filing, reevaluations seen as bids to stall court challenges
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2007 1:59 PM CDT
US Weighs New Hearings for Gitmo Detainees
A US trooper keeps watch from a guard tower at the detention compound at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, in this Dec. 7, 2006 file photo, reviewed by a U.S. Dept of Defense official. Guards at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp found two prisoners sporting unauthorized underwear, and the U.S. military...   (Associated Press)

The Justice Department has made the first official move to reevaluate the status of enemy combatants held at Guantanamo, confirming the possibility of new hearings that would represent a dramatic administration policy change. Friday's federal court filing concerns only one detainee and appears to be a maneuver to head off other inmates' challenges to their detention, the Times reports.

During status hearings in 2004 and 2005, detainees were denied access to lawyers and could not see evidence against them, a process one prisoner's lawyer called "gravely flawed." A Pentagon spokesman characterized the filing as merely an indication a reassessment is under way, saying "no decisions have been made to redo" the hearings. (More Guantanamo prisoners stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X