Score Another One For the Constitution!

A judge has ruled that foreign suspects held by the U.S. in Afghanistan have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

Judge John Bates denied the motion by the U.S. government to withhold the right to three detainees at Bagram air base. The Supreme Court ruled last year that detainees at Guantanamo had such a right. The justice department later said those held at Bagram did not. Judge Bates smacked down that logic, saying that the cases were essentially the same.

The three detainees have been held at the U.S. military prison at Bagram for over six years after having been captured outside Afghanistan. Judge Bates' ruling now allows them to challenge their detention in the US justice system. A lawyer representing one of the detainees said it was "a great day for American justice".

"Today, a U.S. federal judge ruled that our government cannot simply kidnap people and hold them beyond the law," lawyer Ramzi Kassem was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.