IN RE: GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE LITIGATION
(U.S. Dist. Ct., D.C., March 13, 2009) – In a declaration filed by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today in federal court, the Department of Justice submitted a new standard for the government’s authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The definition does not rely on the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief independent of Congress’s specific authorization. It draws on the international laws of war to inform the statutory authority conferred by Congress. It provides that individuals who supported al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial, and does not employ the phrase “enemy combatant.”
