[Pnews] US court rules Guantanamo inmate's detention is unlawful

[Prisoner News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/guantanamo-us-court-rules-inmates-detention-unlawful>
US
court rules Guantanamo inmate's detention is unlawful
By MEE staff in Washington - October 20, 2021
------------------------------

US has no basis to detain Asadullah Haroon Gul, who was cleared for
transfer last week, in a first such ruling in a decade

[image: Gul's brother, Roman Khan, said the news of the court's ruling is
"sweet news" for the family.]

Gul's brother, Roman Khan, said the court's ruling was "sweet news" for the
family (AFP/File photo)

Published date: 20 October 2021 21:06 UTC | Last update: 9 hours 2 mins ago

A US <https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us>
federal court has ruled that a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/www.middleeasteye.net/topics/guantanamo>
detention centre has been unlawfully kept there, several days after he was
cleared to be transferred out of the military prison.

The US court granted the petition for a writ of habeas corpus for Asadullah
Haroon Gul, who has been detained without charge by the US since 2007. The
decision marks the first time in a decade a Guantanamo detainee's
imprisonment has been ruled unlawful.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/guantanamo-bay-us-approves-transfer-two-more-detainees>

Guantanamo Bay: US approves transfer of two more detainees

"We are thrilled for Asad. A federal court has finally affirmed what Asad
has known for so long: he should be home with his family, and his detention
is unlawful," Mark Maher, Gul's lawyer at Reprieve US, said in a statement
<https://reprieve.org/uk/2021/10/20/asadullah-haroon-guls-detention-at-guantanamo-ruled-unlawful/>
.

"This is a landmark ruling. For 20 years, successive US administrations
have asserted their right to imprison people indefinitely, without charge
or trial. Guantanamo was built on the shakiest of legal foundations, and
that has never been more clear than it is today."

Earlier this year, US government lawyers had argued
<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/us/politics/asadullah-haroon-gul.html> that
Washington could continue to detain the Afghan citizen even as the country
was pulling out of Afghanistan, asserting that he had a past affiliation
with members of al-Qaeda.

He was accused of being a member of Hezb-e-Islami (HIA), a militia that
fought against the allied invasion of Afghanistan. HIA entered into a peace
agreement with the then-US backed Afghan government five years ago.

Wednesday's court decision comes a week after Guantanamo's Periodic Review
Board cleared
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/guantanamo-bay-us-approves-transfer-two-more-detainees>Gul
for release, although he remains at the prison and the US has not provided
a country to which he could be released.

Gul's brother, Roman Khan, said the court's ruling was "sweet news" for the
family.

"The family has eyes only to see him again. We are all waiting for him,"
Khan said in a statement to Reprieve.

"He has spent more than 14 years of his life in this dangerous and terrible
prison without charge. We are thankful to the judges and to everyone who
continue to press for his freedom."

Still, despite his detention having no legal basis and him being cleared
for release, it could take some time before Gul leaves the prison. More
than a decade ago, 17 Uyghur men were ordered free
<https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/washington/08detain.html>, however,
they remained at Guantanamo for several years while the US government
worked to find countries in which to resettle them.

Of the 39 men currently detained at the prison, 12 have been approved for
transfer. So far under the Biden administration, only one detainee has been
released - Moroccan national Abdul Latif Nasser
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-guantanamo-bay-morocco-first-detainee-transferred-biden>
.

According to the New York Times
<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/politics/guantanamo-afghan-detainee.html>,
another lawyer for Gul, Eric Lewis, urged the State Department to appoint a
special envoy to coordinate the transfers of detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

Any men cleared for transfer should be sent "home or to countries that are
willing to assist", he said in a statement.
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