The ICJ and its United States National Section, the American Association for the ICJ, have submitted a joint amicus curiae brief to the United States Court in the case of Fawzi Khalid Abdullah Fahad Al Odah, et al., and Shafiq Rasul, et al., v. United states, et al. and George W. Bush, et al.
The case is the first to be heard by the Supreme in Court in connection with the indefinite detention of some 680 persons held without charge by the United States at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
The Court will consider whether or not the United States courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of their detention. At present, the detainees are situated in legal limbo, having been denied, inter alia, access to counsel, the right to challenge their detention in a court of law and the protections of the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of the Prisoners of War. The ICJ considers the detention of the Guantanamo captives without judicial review to be arbitrary and unlawful. In the brief, the ICJ and AAICJ urge the Supreme Court to allow the judiciary to assert jurisdiction in respect of the detainees and thereby carry outs its function to safeguard the rule of law.
Amicus Curiae Brief [full text, PDF]
