WASHINGTON. - The U.S. Supreme Court denied review in cases of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners Monday. The refusal to review comes after a ruling that declined detainees facing no charges the right to challenge their ongoing imprisonment four years ago.
The foreigner prisoners have been held in the top security prison for the past decade; among the prisoners are some who are yet to be charged. The Supreme Court's decision to do so denies any detainee the writ of Habeas Corpus, upholding the 2008 Boumedine v. Bush case, in which the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of the Military Commissions Act 2006 (MCA).
According to the MCA foreign military detainees held on foreign ground do not possess the constitutional right of habeas corpus. The act also eliminated federal jurisdiction on matters of rights of detainees who have been categorized as enemy combatants.
The Supreme Court has not heard any Guantanamo cases since 2008 i.e. after the Boumedine v. Bush case.
According to the Associated Press, the Justices have offered no comments on its decision to refuse review of the case. The AP also reports that there are currently 169 foreign detainees in the naval base prison in Cuba, confined since 2001.
Vincent Warren, the executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, said of the court's verdict: "Today's decision leaves the fate of detainees in the hands of a hostile D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has erected innumerable, unjustified legal obstacles that have made it practically impossible for a detainee to win a habeas case in the trial courts."
During the 2008 presidential elections, president Obama announced that he will shut down the prison, however he has failed to do so due to congress' unwillingness and other priorities.
