Mohammed Jawad was, at most, 16 years old when he was accused of throwing a grenade at American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan in December 2002. He has spent 6 1/2 years at the detention facility in Cuba, but was slated to be released after Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle ruled last week that the U.S. government had no admissible evidence to prove Jawad had committed a crime, because his confession was obtained while being tortured. Justice Department lawyers, however, continued to insist Jawad is too much of a threat to be sent back to Afghanistan, but on Wednesday they agreed to send him home. However, first they have to send notification to Congress, which could take another 22 days, and it is still not certain if he really will be released.

 

So far federal judges have ruled in 31 detainee cases and ordered 26 of them to be released. But the government has continued to hold 17 of the detainees at Guantánamo anyway.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Obama Faces Court Test Over Detainee (by William Glaberson, New York Times)

Young Afghan in Camp Iguana, Playing the Wii (by Carol Rosenberg, Miami Herald)

Obama Admin. Cooks Up New Legal Argument for Detaining Gitmo Prisoner (by Jason Leopold, Public Record)

Mohammed Jawad – Habeas Corpus (American Civil Liberties Union)