Release
On 21 October 2008 US District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ordered the release of the 5 Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth, Belkacem Bensayah. The Court ruled: "To allow enemy combatancy to rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with this court's obligation; the court must and will grant their petitions and order their release. This is a unique case. Few if any others will be factually like it. Nobody should be lulled into a false sense that all of the ... cases will look like this one."
Three of the six men were released and flown to Bosnia late in the fall of 2008, leaving three behind in Guantanamo, two rejected by Bosnia and fearing for their lives in Algeria, one, Belkacar, still detained as a terrorist. On March 3, 2009, El Khabar reported that the Bush administration forced the men to sign undertakings that they would not sue the US government for their kidnapping, before they would be released.
Read more about this topic: Algerian Six
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“The near touch of death may be a release into life; if only it will break the egoistic will, and release that other flow.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The steel decks rock with the lightning shock, and shake with the
great recoil,
And the sea grows red with the blood of the dead and reaches for his spoil—
But not till the foe has gone below or turns his prow and runs,
Shall the voice of peace bring sweet release to the men behind the
guns!”
—John Jerome Rooney (1866–1934)
“If I were to be taken hostage, I would not plead for release nor would I want my government to be blackmailed. I think certain government officials, industrialists and celebrated persons should make it clear they are prepared to be sacrificed if taken hostage. If that were done, what gain would there be for terrorists in taking hostages?”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)