McClatchy Newspapers: Detainees will put spotlight on U.S. evidence against them

Detainees will put spotlight on U.S. evidence against them
Michael Doyle and Marisa Taylor | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: June 19, 2008 06:20:11 PM

WASHINGTON — The Taliban tortured Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco. They thought he was a U.S. spy. Then, U.S. soldiers called the Syrian native an enemy and shipped him to Guantanamo Bay.

Now, Ginco will be turning a spotlight back on the Bush administration itself. Newly empowered by the Supreme Court, Ginco and several hundred other Guantanamo Bay detainees can start demanding hard evidence and quick action.

The war on terror may never be the same.

On June 12, the court rewrote the rules for the Guantanamo detainees in the landmark case known as Boumediene v. Bush. The 5-4 majority opinion authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy concluded that the foreigners held at the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay facility were protected by the U.S. Constitution's habeas corpus protections.

The ruling empowers the detainees to obtain what Kennedy termed a "prompt" hearing into the evidence used to justify their incarceration.

Some detainees will almost certainly be released. Others will reveal evidence of mistreatment. The Bush administration will have to defend its practices in open court. The military will have to adjust its treatment of prisoners and figure out the future of Guantanamo Bay.

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