On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Urges U.S. Supreme Court to Protect Habeas Corpus Rights for All Americans, Including Those Detained in Iraq
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Rutherford Institute and the Constitution Project have filed a joint amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the cases Munaf v. Geren and Geren v. Omar. Both groups share an interest in preserving the historic right of American citizens held in American custody to access the basic procedural safeguards afforded by the Constitution, namely the Great Writ of habeas corpus.
In filing this joint brief, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute and the Constitution Project have asked the Court to preserve the fundamental point of law that an American citizen cannot be denied habeas corpus simply because his military custodians are part of multinational forces. A copy of the brief is available here.
"It is during times like these that we find our nation's commitment to individual liberty tested," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "However, it is imperative that at all times, but especially in the midst of the government's ongoing war on terror, we resolve to preserve at home the principles we claim to fight for abroad."
Mohammed Munaf and Shawqi Omar, two American citizens who were arrested separately in Iraq by American military personnel, have since been detained by U.S. authorities operating as part of Multi-National Force Iraq. Both Americans are challenging attempts by the U.S. to transfer them into Iraqi custody and deny them access to U.S. courts for judicial review of their detentions. The government's rationale in denying Munaf and Omar access to U.S. courts relies on the fact that the military custodian for the two men, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, is formally part of a multinational force. However, as the amicus brief filed by The Rutherford Institute and Constitution Project points out, the Lieutenant Colonel is answerable exclusively to a U.S. chain of command and the multinational force to which he belongs is U.S.-led and dominated.
The brief also points out that the U.S. Supreme Court has in the past assumed jurisdiction over habeas petitions stemming from American participation in multinational military efforts, specifically during World War II, the Korean War and the current war on international terrorism. Thus, the Institute's brief urges the Court to resist the government's attempt to undermine habeas corpus and consolidate power in the Executive branch. Instead, the brief argues, the Court should adopt a firm and easy-to-apply rule that American citizens are entitled to challenge their detention in federal court whenever they are held in the custody of American officials and regardless of whether those U.S. officials are participating in multinational military operations.
