WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (AFP) - Military tribunals of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base are "unconstitutional," a US federal judge ruled Monday.
The finding by Judge Joyce Hens Green leaves in doubt the fate of hundreds of detainees held at the US naval base, where suspects captured in the US-led war on terrorism are being held as illegal combatants without Geneva Convention protections.
Most detainees were taken prisoner in Afghanistan or Pakistan after US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime.
After considering court appeals filed by 11 "enemy combatants" held at the detention facility, "the court concludes that the petitioners have stated valid claims under the Fifth Amendment to the United State Constitution," and that the detentions "violate the petitioners rights to due process of law."
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution states that no one under US juridiction can be "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
The court also found that the detainees, are in fact, covered, at least in part, by the Geneva Conventions.
"The court holds that at least some of the petitioners have stated valid claims under the third Geneva Convention," according to a declassifed version of the federal ruling which was posted Monday on the court's website.
01/31/2005 16:02 GMT - AFP