Appeals Court Dismisses Suit Challenging Detention Of Taliban And Al Qaeda Fighters In Cuba

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by a group of activists on behalf of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to bring the case. The decision is a victory for WLF which had urged the court to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction. WLF recently filed a brief in a related case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Rasul v. Bush, which will be heard on December 2, 2002.