A federal judge has made a novel argument in ordering the United States to release a Guantanamo prisoner: The passage of time, combined with a "falling-out" between a detainee and his purported terrorist bosses, is enough to declare that the detainee is no longer an "enemy combatant."
Ruling in the case of Guantanamo detainee Abdulrahim Abdul Razak al Ginco, U.S. District judge Richard J. Leon said the fact that al Ginco had been imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban before his capture by U.S. forces, combined with the fact that he has now spent seven years in Gitmo, means he can no longer be considered an enemy combatant.
The judge ordered the U.S. government to release al Ginco "forthwith."
This comes from a judge who, Scotus Blog reports, is known to be among the toughest defendants of the Bush administration's policies on Guantanamo detainees.
The ruling sets the precedent, partially, that if enough time passes and there is evidence to suggest that a detainee's links to terrorist organizations are effectively broken, that detainee can be released.
This brings a measure of hope to those who worried that the U.S. would keep Guantanamo detainees in jail indefinitely, because of prior links to terrorism. But Scotus Blog warns that the specifics of this case were so unique that they may not apply to many other detainees.
Read the (heavily redacted) ruling here (PDF).
-- Daniel Tencer
