Jurist

Advocacy groups to challenge Arizona immigration law

Two Latino advocacy groups say they will challenge the constitutionality of Arizona's new immigration law, asserting it permits racial profiling. SB 1070 signed into law April 23 by Gov. Jan Brewer, permits police to question the immigration status of suspected illegal immigrants. Officials from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and the National Coalition of Latino Christian Clergy (CONLAMIC) contend the law will let police single out minorities for immigration inspections. Under the law, it is designated a crime to be in the country illegally and immigrants unable to verify their legal status can be arrested and jailed for six months and fined $2,500.

Kenya seeks release of Gitmo detainee

Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that Nairobi is attempting to secure the release of Kenyan native Mohammed Abdumalik, who is currently detained at Guantánamo Bay. The news was revealed in a letter to Abdulmalik's family, informing them that the Kenyan government will ask the US to release the detainee. Abdulmalik's family filed a $30 million lawsuit against the Kenyan government last year, claiming that Abdulmalik was illegally detained, tortured, and renditioned to US authorities.

Turkish court sentences Kurdish activist to prison

Turkish politician and Kurdish rights activist Leyla Zana was sentenced April 8 to three years in prison for spreading terrorist propaganda. Zana was convicted by a court in the city of Diyarbakir for two speeches delivered at a Kurdish political congress in 2008. Zana has previously been convicted for spreading propaganda under Turkey's anti-terrorism laws, most recently facing a 10-year sentence in 2008 for supporting the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). She remains free pending appeal.

Militia members indicted in plot to attack Michigan police

A federal grand jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on March 29 returned a five-count indictment against nine suspected members of the "Hutaree" militia group accused of plotting to kill police officers. The group members allegedly planned to kill Michigan law enforcement officers by, among other methods, making phony 911 calls and ambushing those who responded. The members then planned to attack the funeral processions of the fallen officers.

Federal judge rules US may continue holding Yemeni Gitmo detainee

A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on March 24 denied a Yemeni Guantánamo Bay detainee's habeas corpus petition on its merits, allowing the US government to prolong the detention indefinitely. Detainee Makhtar Yahia Naji al Warafi was captured during the 2001-2002 US campaign in Afghanistan and maintains that he was only a medical clinic worker at the time. The US alleges that Pentagon intelligence demonstrates Warafi was a trained jihadist. The order by judge Royce Lamberth cites a classified memorandum containing details of the reasoning, which was filed with the court security officer.

US transfers three Gitmo detainees to Georgia

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced March 23 that three Guantánamo Bay detainees had been transferred to the country of Georgia. The transfer was approved by unanimous consent of the Guantánamo Review Task Force, an inter-agency group that reviewed several factors regarding the detainees, including security. The identities of the released detainees are being withheld due to security and privacy concerns. The DoJ stated that the US "is grateful to Georgia for its willingness to support US efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay facility." More than 580 detainees have been transferred from Guantánamo Bay since 2002. With the departure of these last three detainees, 183 detainees remain in the military prison.

Federal judge orders release of Gitmo detainee accused in 9-11 attacks

A judge in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on March 22 ordered the release of a Guantánamo Bay detainee who had been accused of planning the 9-11 attacks. Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian who has been in US custody for over seven years, brought a habeas corpus petition, claiming that he had been tortured in prison and had made confessions under duress. Slahi was once considered a key al-Qaeda leader and prosecutors had sought the death penalty against him. However, a prominent government prosecutor stepped down from the case in protest of the abusive treatment allegedly used against Slahi. The judge's decision is currently classified, although the court suggested that the files will become available at a future date.

Supreme Court declines to rule on Gitmo detainee transfer process

The US Supreme Court on March 22 declined to rule in the case known as Kiyemba II, in which the court was asked to consider issues surrounding the transfer of Guantánamo Bay detainees. Lawyers for four Chinese Muslim Uighurs detained at Guantánamo were appealing an April 2009 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Columbia Circuit, which held that US courts cannot prevent the government from transferring Guantánamo detainees to foreign countries on the grounds that detainees may face prosecution or torture in the foreign country. The case is separate from a case the court remanded to the DC circuit court earlier this month, known as Kiyemba I.

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