Supreme Court rejects appeal from Guantanamo detainee

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is rejecting an appeal from a Yemeni man who has been held without charges at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba for more than 17 years. One justice says “it is past time” to examine the indefinite detention of foreigners at the Guantanamo Bay base.

Detainee Moath Hamza Ahmed Al-Alwi says he is effectively consigned to life in prison after his capture in Pakistan and transfer to Guantanamo in January 2002. He says the high court needs to decide whether the 2001 congressional authorization to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban following the Sept. 11 attacks permits his ongoing detention.

The justices denied the appeal Monday. But Justice Stephen Breyer says the duration and changed nature of the fighting raise questions about whether detentions may continue.