Shocker: Obama Administration Rules That Terror Detainees Have No Constitutional Rights
Detainees being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan cannot use US courts to challenge their detention, the US says.
The justice department ruled that some 600 so-called enemy combatants at Bagram have no constitutional rights.
Most have been arrested in Afghanistan on suspicion of waging a terrorist war against the US.
The ruling has disappointed human rights lawyers who had hoped the Obama administration would take a different line to that of George W Bush.
Prof Barbara Olshansky, the lead counsel in a legal challenge on behalf of four Bagram detainees, told the BBC the justice department’s decision not to reform the rules was both surprising and “enormously disappointing”.
Key quote from Obama’s Department of Justice:
Having considered the matter, the government adheres to its previously articulated position.
That previous position having been articulated by the Bush administration.
This is bad for Obama because it’s going to alienate, at least to some degree, his far-left base. But given that he’s still got a lot of love left with the media, and with all the liberals out there buying up Obama action figures and what, he can probably afford that.
But it is interesting to note the hypocrisy in this. Obama made a lot of noise about closing down Guantanamo Bay, because Gitmo was a political focal point for the anti-war crowd that was integral to his campaign base, and now that he’s President Obama is still making noises about closing it. But given his administration’s position on terror detainees in far-off Afghanistan, doesn’t that make it seem like Obama’s position on Guantanamo is more a convenient political calculation than an illustration of his true feelings on the matter?
