LA federal judge dismisses petition over Afghan war detainees

Associated Press WriterLOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a petition by civil rights advocates who want the Afghan detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be brought before a U.S. court.

U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz ruled that the civil rights advocates do not have standing to bring the case, and that even if they did, no U.S. federal court would have jurisdiction to hear it.

Attorney Erwin Chemerinsky said the group would appeal.

Around 300 detainees who fought against U.S. troops in Afghanistan have been brought to the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay.

The White House has said the Taliban fighters will be protected under the rules of the Geneva Conventions but will not be classified as prisoners of war. Those linked to the al-Qaida terrorist organization will not fall into either category. But U.S. officials contend the men are being treated humanely and can practice their religion.

The civil rights advocates -- 17 clergy members, lawyers and professors -- argued that the detainees should be treated as prisoners of war and said their civil rights were being violated.

The group demanded that the government define the charges against the prisoners and bring them before a U.S. court.

The judge on Thursday agreed with the government's argument that the group has no personal connections with any of the detainees and therefore has no standing in the case.

Government lawyers cited a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving German prisoners seized at the end of World War II in arguing that U.S. courts don't have jurisdiction in this case.

In the 1950 case, the court said the German prisoners could not file habeas corpus petitions in U.S. court because they were taken to an American-run prison in occupied Germany and were at all times outside U.S. sovereign territory.

No treaty or U.S. law grants prisoners such as those being held Guantanamo the right to a lawyer. That would change if they were charged with a crime. Prisoners of war also merit legal protections not available to the Guantanamo detainees.

On Tuesday, human rights lawyers in Washington filed a separate federal suit demanding that the U.S. District Court order the release of three of the detainees -- two Britons and an Australian.