Guantanamo Detainee Mohammed Jawad Released

Jacob Sullum | August 24, 2009

Today the Obama administration sent Guantanamo detainee Mohammed Jawad back to Afghanistan after nearly seven years of imprisonment. Arrested as a young teenager, Jawad was accused of throwing a grenade at two American servicemen and their translator. The case against him fell apart last fall when a military judge ruled that his confession was inadmissible because it had been obtained through torture and death threats. Last month the federal judge hearing Jawad's habeas corpus petition ordered his release, but the Justice Department had indicated it might want him transferred to civilian custody for trial in federal court. Both the Afghan government and Jawad's former military prosecutor had called for his release. The Obama administration deserves credit for cutting its losses and letting Jawad go, although it's sad that obeying a judge's order and declining to pursue "prolonged detention" by other means count as progress.

Previous Reason  coverage of the Jawad case here. The ACLU, which represented Jawad, has background here.