US judge declares the detention of an Afghan in Guantanamo “illegal”
HAVANA, Oct 21 (EFE) A United States judge has ruled that the detention of an Afghan in Guantanamo prison is illegal,
the first time in ten years that an inmate at that center has won a case against the Government of Washington, they reported this Thursday to American media.
Washington Federal Judge Amit P. Mehta on Tuesday entered a final order and two classified opinions on Asadullah Haroon Gul’s “habeas corpus” petition for his immediate release, court records show, which did not disclose the contents of the documents.
Habeas corpus is a judicial mechanism that any person deprived of liberty can resort to if he considers that he is being held illegally to ask a judge to verify the legality of his condition.
One of Gul’s attorneys, Tara Plochocki, stressed in a statement that this is a “momentous victory for law enforcement and a much-needed reminder to the US Government that there are limits on what it can do in name of national security “.
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The NGO Reprieve, which has supported Gul in this case, said in a statement that he was detained without charge or trial by the US in 2007.
He added that for the first nine years of his captivity he did not have access to a lawyer, despite multiple attempts to obtain legal representation.
According to The Washington Post, when he was captured he was a member of the Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin paramilitary group, then an ally of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and who resisted the US invasion in 2001.
That group signed peace with the Kabul government in September 2016 and hundreds of its militants were released from Afghan prisons.
For its part, the US government has freed dozens of Taliban from Guantanamo in recent years, including high-ranking members now in leadership positions in Kabul.
However, prosecutors in Gul’s case maintain that he had deep ties to al Qaeda and that Washington remains at war with this terrorist organization.
Last May, prosecutor Stephen McCoy Elliott claimed that he made several trips to specialized explosives and chemical training camps and that he conducted other “operational duties” for al Qaeda.
They claimed that he received training through a student organization related to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.
