Detainees Get Third Round at High Court

WASHINGTON -- Nearly six years ago, Bosnian authorities ordered the release of six men picked up on suspicion of plotting to attack the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. An investigation found no evidence against the six Algerian natives.

Instead of freedom, however, they got a trip to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were branded enemy combatants by the Bush administration and have been held since. They have not been charged with a crime.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will consider whether the Algerians and about 300 other prisoners at Guantanamo can go to U.S. courts to challenge their confinement. Just three detainees are facing charges at the moment, although Pentagon officials have talked about eventually holding military trials for 60 to 80 prisoners.

The prisoners want the justices to order prompt court hearings, considering the length of their detention so far.

The cases to be argued Wednesday mark the third time that the Supreme Court has examined the rights of the detainees. Twice before, the court has ruled against the administration. Each time Congress and the White House have changed the law in an effort to keep the Guantanamo prisoners from contesting their detention before American judges.

The indefinite detentions have become a focal point of international criticism of the administration's fight against terrorism, with increasing calls for closing the Guantanamo facility.

The administration is mounting a vigorous defense of its detention policies.

In a court filing, the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer says the cells at Guantanamo hold people suspected of plotting terrorist attacks or with ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban who formerly ruled Afghanistan. Moreover, the detainees "enjoy more procedural protections than any other captured enemy combatants in the history of warfare," Solicitor General Paul Clement says.

Despite the prisoners' six years of confinement, Clement says the justices should not upset the detainees' classification as enemy combatants "at this preliminary stage," even if the court rules that the detainees can be heard in U.S. courts.

The case turns on the reach of the writ of habeas corpus. The centuries-old legal principle, enshrined in the Constitution, allows courts to determine whether a prisoner is being held illegally.

The government says foreigners held outside the United States have no constitutional rights and that Congress has stripped federal courts of jurisdiction in the detainee cases.

Even if the detainees have rights, the procedures put in place to review their status as enemy combatants are adequate, Clement says.