THE TENSION: Wire: Federal Judge Rules Terror Prisoners in Afghanistan Can Challenge Detention in US Court

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2009 -- Newswires reported today that a federal judge says prisoners in the war on terror being held at a military air base in Afghanistan have a right to challenge their detention in a U.S. court.

The Associated Press reported the following news:

U.S. District Judge John Bates on Thursday denied the United States' motion to deny the right to three foreign detainees at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had the right. But the government had argued that it did not apply to those in Afghanistan.

Bates said the cases were essentially the same.

All four of the detainees in this case were captured outside Afghanistan but have been held at the airfield for six years or more.