USA: Time for real change as Supreme Court rules on Guantánamo detentions

USA: Time for real change as Supreme Court rules on Guantánamo detentions

The landmark judgment delivered on 12 June 2008 by the United States (US) Supreme Court in Boumediene v. Bush and al Odah v. United States (“Boumediene”) constitutes a significant step towards the restoration of the rule of law as a foundation for counter-terrorism measures by the United States of America (USA). In its ruling, the court unreservedly affirmed that the right to challenge the lawfulness of one’s detention in a court of law must be given effect to the foreign nationals detained as “enemy combatants” in Guantánamo Bay, who currently number approximately 270 detainees of around 30 nationalities.