UN hails US court ruling on Guantanamo bay

New York, June 13 (PTI) The United Nations human rights
chief has welcomed the decision by the United States Supreme
Court that the country's constitution extends to foreigners
being held in Guantanamo Bay and that they have the right to
challenge their detention in the civilian court system.
Louise Arbour, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human
Rights, said in a statement Thursday that the detainees – some
of whom have been detained for up to six years – have the
right to a "prompt review" of the reasons for their detention.
"The Supreme Court has sent a vitally important message
that the protections afforded by fundamental human rights
guarantees extend to these individuals and that effective
remedies must be available to them," she said.
Arbour added that she welcomed the recognition by the
court "that security and liberty are not trade-offs, but can
be reconciled through the framework of the law, and that it is
the courts that apply the law. This has long been the hallmark
of American constitutionalism."
The High Commissioner had submitted an amicus curiae – or
"friend of the court" – brief to the Supreme Court as part of
the case, arguing as a matter of constitutional law for the
same conclusion that the court reached.
After the ruling, she said she hoped that, "now that
these legal issues have been clearly and definitively settled,
the civilian courts will be able to move promptly to assess
the situation of individual detainees."