Gitmo Detainee Ordered Released, But His Lawyer Is Not Allowed To Tell Him

Gitmo Detainee Ordered Released, But His Lawyer Is Not Allowed To Tell Him

On June 12, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Boumediene v. Bush that those detained as enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay had the rights of habeas corpus, and were entitled to a legal hearing to determine their legal status and challenge their detention. Presidential hopeful John McCain called this decision "One of the worst decisions in the history of this country." Newt Gingrich similarly decried the decision - and Senator Barack Obama's support for it - wailing, "This court decision is a disaster and it could cost us a city."

I'm going to have to disagree, and the recent events in the life one such detainee, Huzaifa Parhat, go a long way in demonstrating the utter, crazyfaced absurdity of the administration's detention policy.

On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit determined that Huzaifa Parhat, who has been detained in Guantanamo Bay for more than six years, is not an enemy combatant. The U.S. military was directed "to release Parhat, to transfer him or to hold a new proceeding in light of the appeals court's ruling".

Tuesday night, Derek Stoffel, host of CBC Radio's "As It Happens" asked Parhat's lawyer, Sabin Willett: "What's your client's reaction to this ruling?"

The unbelievable response:

Boy what a great question that is because my client doesn't know about this ruling because I'm not allowed to tell him. [...] He's sitting in solitary confinement today. He has no idea what's happened as far as I know.

Need I remind you that President George W. Bush is of the belief that he is allowed to declare anyone to be an "enemy combatant?" Even you?

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