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First the ACLU press release – which focuses on legal precedent and their victory in winning the case. Then, excerpt from a Washington Post story which notes that the detainee may have been as young as 12 years old when he was detained.
an ACLU press release:
Judge Orders Release Of Guantánamo Detainee Mohammed Jawad (7/30/2009)
ACLU Client To Be Returned Home To Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – A federal judge today ordered the government to release Guantánamo detainee and American Civil Liberties Union client Mohammed Jawad, who has been illegally detained by the U.S. for almost seven years. The Afghan government has indicated that it is prepared to receive Jawad immediately and unconditionally. U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle gave the Justice Department until August 21 to release Jawad from Guantánamo and transfer him to the custody of the Afghan government.
Judge Huvelle also ordered the Justice Department to inform Congress of its plans for returning Jawad to Afghanistan by August 6, and to produce a report on the status of his repatriation by August 24.
The following can be attributed to Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project and one of Jawad’s lawyers in his habeas corpus case:
“Judge Huvelle made clear that Mr. Jawad has been illegally detained and the government has no credible evidence to continue holding him. We are pleased that the Justice Department has expressed a commitment to getting him home so that this nightmare of abuse and injustice can finally come to an end.”
Judge Huvelle’s order is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/40543lgl20090730.html
More information about Jawad’s case is available at: www.aclu.org/jawad
-end press release
(excerpt from) Washington Post
…Mohammed Jawad, whose case has generated intense support from human rights groups, might have been as young as 12 when he was arrested by Afghan authorities and turned over to the U.S. military.
Jawad is the 28th prisoner to be ordered released from Guantanamo Bay by a federal judge. On Wednesday, another federal judge, Collen Kollar-Kotelly, ordered the release of a Kuwaiti detainee, Khaled Al-Mutairi, 34. So far, 19 detainees who have been ordered released remain at the facility. The government has won orders — all from the same judge — allowing them to continue detaining five prisoners.
Filed under: afghanistan, News, politics, progressive politics, US Politics Tagged: | aclu, Criminal Justice, detainnee, gitmo, Guatanamo, habeas corpus, Jawad, Mohammed Jawad
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