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Washington: The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled Guantanamo prisoners have the right to challenge their detention at the US military base in civilian courts, dealing a stiff rebuke to the Bush administration.
"The laws and constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times," the court said in its historic ruling. By a vote of five to four, the court found that even if the base was officially on Cuban territory, it was in fact operating as if it were on American soil and therefore the detainees have the same constitutional rights as all people living in the United States.
Yesterday's ruling should now force the detainees and their legal teams to demand that the government unveil the body of evidence against them to justify their continued detention. The White House had no immediate comment.
The UN's human rights agency chief welcomed the ruling.
"The Supreme Court has sent a vitally important message that the protections afforded by fundamental human rights guarantees extend to these individuals and that effective remedies must be available to them," Louise Arbour, UN high commissioner on human rights, said in a statement.
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