Posted by Tina
** Washington – President Obama sided with the Bush administration Friday, saying detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights. In a two-sentence court filing, the Justice Department said it agreed that detainees at Bagram Airfield cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their detention. The filing shocked human rights attorneys. (Snip) The Supreme Court last summer gave al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the right to challenge their detention. AP **
And in related news:
** A Pentagon report requested by President Obama on the conditions at the Guantnamo Bay detention center concluded that the prison complies with the humane-treatment requirements of the Geneva Conventions. But it makes recommendations for improvements including increasing human contact for the prisoners, according to two government officials who have read parts of it. *** The review, requested by Mr. Obama on his second day in office, is to be delivered to the White House next week. *** The presidents request, made as part of a plan to close the prison within a year, was widely seen as an effort to defuse accusations that there were widespread abuses at Guantnamo, and that many detainees were suffering severe psychological effects after years of isolation. – NYT**