Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a Yemeni man named Abdulsalam Al-Hela sued the United States, claiming that his life had become a twisted version of the movie “Groundhog Day” – trapped in the Guantanamo Bay detention center without a fair trial. And with a swish of their magical pens, eight out of ten judges of the D.C Circuit Court decided that due process might or might not apply to him. Sounds like they whipped out their Magic 8-Ball for this one!
Anyway, Robert L. Wilkins, who may or may not have been a Jedi appointed by President Obama, wrote that they would “assume without deciding that the Due Process Clause applies.” Wouldn’t it be great if we could all “assume” things without deciding? Talk about commitment issues!
For some reason, these judges kept their April 4 decision under wraps until recently, like it was part of some secret club or something. Al-Hela had been caught in Egypt in 2002 and whisked away to Guantanamo two years later. Poor guy has been trying to prove his innocence for years, but no luck. We’re guessing he’d rather be stuck in detention with Harry Potter and the gang than wallowing in this legal limbo.
Al-Hela’s attorneys expressed some disappointment over the ruling, probably because they’d been waiting for 20 years to get their client off the hook. A lower court judge had earlier labeled him an enemy combatant, based on some classified intel that may or may not involve decoder rings and secret handshakes. Al-Hela argued that his so-called terrorist affiliations were actually government plans to kick them out of Yemen. Talk about a “misunderstanding”!
Jonathan Hafetz, a national security attorney, wasn’t too happy with the ruling either, calling it “unfortunate in many respects.” He added that “basic rights to due process” should apply to the detainees who have been chilling at Guantanamo for decades. With the big exit of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s high time this problem gets sorted out, especially since President Biden wants to close Guantanamo Bay, like, yesterday.
The court has now handed Al-Hela’s case back to a lower court to think about whether he should be released because he’s no longer seen as a security threat. Al-Hela has been waiting with bated breath as a Periodic Review Board, comprised of some fancy-sounding agencies, decided he could be released as long as he ends up in a country with the right “security measures.” Yemen, unfortunately, didn’t make the cut. Bummer!
In the meantime, J. Wells Dixon, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, raised a big question: can the government keep holding people at Guantanamo if they’re cleared for transfer but can’t make it to a safe location? Looks like 16 other detainees in a similar situation are playing the waiting game, too.
Adding more drama, Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, wrote a dissenting opinion, claiming the court was playing fast and loose with the Constitution. She’s all about maintaining those procedural protections, you know! Four other Republican-appointed judges hopped on the bandwagon with Rao, saying that Guantánamo detainees shouldn’t have due process rights. Yikes!
It seems like the legal battle for Guantánamo detainees is far from over, but at least it has caught the attention of some folks who might make a difference – Justices in shining robes, perhaps? Here’s hoping for a fairytale ending for these unfortunate souls.
