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US for dismissing Guantanamo cases <br>
by <br>
Wednesday 04 January 2006 12:03 AM GMT <br><br>
<b>The US Justice Department will seek to dismiss more than 180 cases
involving inmates at Guantanamo Bay who have challenged their detention
in court, court documents show.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>The department filed a notice to judges presiding
over the cases at the US District Court in Washington to advise them that
by the end of next week the Justice Department would file official
motions to dismiss the cases. <br>
<br>
The notice comes a week after George Bush, the US president, signed new
legislation banning cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners. The
anti-torture law also curbs the ability of prisoners being held at the US
Naval Base in Cuba to challenge their detention in federal court. <br>
<br>
The legislation requiring humane treatment of detainees in US custody was
originally opposed by the White House. But Bush backed off his original
veto threats after Congress voted overwhelmingly to support the
amendment, pushed by Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who was a
prisoner of war in Vietnam. <br>
<br>
In a concession to the White House, the bill limits prisoners from going
to lower-level civilian courts for relief from confinement. They can only
go to an appeals court once they have gone through a military court
process. <br><br>
<b>Global outrage<br>
</b> <br>
The United States has faced criticism at home and abroad for treatment of
prisoners at Guantanamo and for holding prisoners indefinitely. Only nine
of about 500 prisoners being held at the base have been charged, and the
United States has been holding prisoners there since January 2002. <br>
<br>
Hundreds of prisoners have filed lawsuits in civilian courts to protest
their confinement or to protest conditions of confinement. <br><br>
</font><font size=3><b>Reuters<br>
By <br><br>
</b>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/783D4C65-3C84-4CF7-8711-D025B78478BD.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/783D4C65-3C84-4CF7-8711-D025B78478BD.htm</a>
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