5 Gitmo Detainees Held Unlawfully, Federal Judge Says

Ruling from the bench, a federal judge has found that five Algerian men were held unlawfully for nearly seven years at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and ordered that they be released "forthwith."

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon also urged the government not to appeal his decision, reports the New York Times. The judge, who heard the evidence against the men in a closed courtroom, is the first to hold hearings on whether Gitmo prisoners were lawfully detained.

Leon told a packed courtroom in Washington, D.C., that the government did not meet its burden of showing that the five were enemy combatants, recounts Bloomberg. "The proceedings were heard live via teleconference by the detainees, who remain in Cuba. The judge directed the government to 'take all appropriate and necessary diplomatic steps to facilitate the release.' "

Leon found that a sixth Algerian was lawfully held, because the government could show that he had provided support to the al-Qaida terrorist group.

"The six men are among a group of Guantánamo inmates who won a Supreme Court ruling that the detainees have constitutional rights and can seek release in federal court," the newspaper explains. "The 5-4 decision said a 2006 law unconstitutionally stripped the prisoners of their right to contest their imprisonment in habeas corpus lawsuits."

Once released, the five defendants can be repatriated to Bosnia, reports McClatchy Newspapers. "The Bosnian courts and prosecutors had previously cleared the men, but on Jan. 17, 2002, Bosnia handed the men over to the U.S. government, which then shipped them to Guantanamo."