Guantanamo judges toss out 2 detainees’ cases

Uncharted legal territory
Sullivan said that reclassifying detainees as "unlawful" will require a time-consuming overhaul of the whole system. But Gregory McNeal, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University, said nothing prevents the Defense Department from reconvening hearings for detainees headed to trial and declaring them to be "unlawful" combatants.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said a retrial is possible because Brownback dismissed the case without prejudice.

Prosecuting attorneys in both cases indicated they would appeal the dismissals. But the court designated to hear the appeals — known as the court of military commissions review — doesn't even exist yet, Sullivan noted.

At the Khadr family home in Toronto, Khadr's sister Zaynab said she hoped the ruling would lead to his release.

"It seems like good news. I guess someone is starting to actually look at the charges and at him as a person rather than just the fact he's allegedly the enemy of the United States," the 27-year-old said in a telephone interview.

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said he plans to hold hearings on the Military Commissions Act, which he said is "riddled with problems and created a process that operates outside the rule of law — it has crippled our ability to deal with the real criminals still being held at Guantanamo."

Australian detainee pleaded guilty
The only other detainee charged under the new system, Australian David Hicks, pleaded guilty in March to providing material support to al-Qaida and is serving a nine-month sentence in Australia. Sullivan said the dismissal of the Khadr case raised questions about the legitimacy of Hicks' conviction.

Brownback ruled only minutes into Khadr's arraignment on charges of murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and spying.

"The charges are dismissed without prejudice," Brownback pronounced.

A prosecutor, Army Capt. Keith Petty, said he had been prepared to show Khadr was an unlawful combatant because he fought for al-Qaida, and videotapes showed Khadr making and planting explosives targeting American soldiers.

The U.S. military has hoped to accelerate its prosecutions of Guantanamo detainees, with the Pentagon saying it expects to eventually charge about 80 of the 380 prisoners held at this isolated base. Now, delays seem likely.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hamdan last June when it threw out the previous military tribunal system, set up in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Congress quickly responded with new guidelines for war-crimes trials that Bush signed into law.

Hamdan was charged with conspiracy for his alleged membership in al-Qaida, his purported role in plotting to attack civilians and civilian targets, and material support for terrorism — he is accused of transporting at least one SA-7 surface-to-air missile to shoot down U.S. and coalition military aircraft in Afghanistan in November 2001.

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