April 18, 2011, New York and Washington, D.C. – Today, the United States Supreme Court announced that it will not hear the Guantánamo detainee case Kiyemba v. Obama. The decision follows the Court's refusal to hear three other detainee cases on April 4, 2011. The Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented some of the Uighur men detained at Guantánamo since 2005, issued the following statement in response:

We regret the Supreme Court's denial of review in Kiyemba, which sought to ensure that the writ of habeas corpus remains effective at Guantánamo Bay. The practical impact of today's decision is that detainees will remain in America's illegal offshore prison indefinitely notwithstanding their exoneration. A court order granting habeas relief no longer means actual release from prison. The significance cannot be understated given that about half of all remaining detainees have been approved for transfer but are not actually being transferred

The Supreme Court should have intervened in Kiyemba and other recent detainee cases to put an end to the D.C. Circuit's open hostility and defiance of the Boumediene and Rasul cases. Those cases rejected the notion that Guantánamo Bay is a legal black hole.  Regrettably, in practice if not in theory, Guantánamo Bay is reverting to a place where no meaningful law applies.”

For more information visit the CCR’s Kiyemba v. Obama legal case page.

CCR has led the legal battle over Guantánamo for the last nine years – sending the first ever habeas attorney to the base and sending the first attorney to meet with an individual transferred from CIA “ghost detention” to Guantánamo.  CCR has been responsible for organizing and coordinating more than 500 pro bono lawyers across the country to represent the men at Guantánamo, ensuring that nearly all have the option of legal representation. In addition, CCR has been working to resettle the approximately 30 men who remain at Guantánamo because they cannot return to their country of origin for fear of persecution and torture.