Guantanamo detainees' appeal rejected by US Supreme Court

2.33.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 4th Apr 2007

Prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay

The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal yesterday from Guantanamo Bay detainees who want to challenge their five-year-long confinement in court, a victory for the Bush administration. Despite the earlier rulings, none of the roughly 385 detainees has yet had a hearing in a civilian court challenging his detention because the administration has moved aggressively to limit the legal rights of prisoners it has labelled as enemy combatants.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson Sarah "Teather said "These moves should be an urgent wake-up call to the British Government. Seven British residents remain in Guantanamo Bay, many of them refugees who cannot be sent back to their home country. By refusing to accept its moral responsibility towards these men, it is complicit in their illegal detention and mistreatment."