[JURIST] US District Judge Gladys Kessler of the DC District Court [official website] has directly intervened to block the transfer of a Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee to Tunisia, where he faced the threat of torture. In her decision last week, which was not made public until Tuesday, Kessler granted a preliminary injunction [order, PDF] preventing the Defense Department from transferring Mohammed Abdul Rahman [Wikipedia profile] until the Supreme Court rules in a case currently on its docket concerning the rights of Guantanamo detainees.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported earlier this month that Tunisian officials were mistreating and abusing two former Guantanamo Bay detainees [JURIST report] since their transfer [JURIST report] in June. Since 2002, approximately 435 detainees have been transferred out of Guantanamo and approximately 330 detainees remain [press release]. AP has more.