Federal judge orders release of Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainee News
Federal judge orders release of Kuwaiti Guantanamo detainee

[JURIST] A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] on Wednesday ordered the release [order, PDF] of Kuwaiti Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Khaled Al-Mutairi. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly granted Al-Mutairi's petition for habeas corpus, finding insufficient evidence for his continued detention. The classified memorandum opinion, which sets forth in detail the reasons for Al-Mutairi's release, will be reviewed and released to the public within 48 hours. Al-Mutairi was detained in Pakistan in 2001 after traveling to Afghanistan to do charity work. Al-Mutairi is one of four Kuwaitis who remain at Guantanamo. Habeas proceedings for the other three are scheduled for August and September.

Since the US Supreme Court's June 2008 ruling in Boumediene v. Bush [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] that Guantanamo detainees could challenge their imprisonment in federal court through the use of habeas corpus motions, several detainees have been granted release. Last month, Judge Richard Leon ordered the release [JURIST report] of Syrian national Abdulrahim Abdul Razak Al Ginco, finding that he could no longer be considered an "enemy combatant." In May, Judge Gladys Kessler ordered the release [JURIST report] of Yemeni Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainee Alla Ali Bin Ali Ahmed, adopting a "substantially supported" standard for reviewing the habeas petitions filed by detainees, which makes no reference to the "enemy combatant" classification upon which the previous standard was based.

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