Jewish groups welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that detainees at Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in federal court.
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the National Council of Jewish Women and the American Jewish Congress all welcomed Thursday’s decision, which is widely seen as a rebuff to the Bush administration’s handling of suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision repudiates years of misguided government policy concerning detainees in the war on terror,” said Mark Pelavin, associate director of the RAC. “For too long, detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center have been told that the American justice system does not apply to them, despite their incarceration by the American government. We applaud the Supreme Court’s clear statement that detainees held by the U.S. government indeed have the right to challenge their detention through a writ of habeas corpus.”
