Hamdan V. Rumsfeld - District and Appeals Court Rulings

District and Appeals Court Rulings

After reviewing Hamdan's habeas petition, Judge James Robertson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in Hamdan's favor, finding that the United States could not hold a military commission unless it was first shown that the detainee was not a prisoner of war.

On July 15, 2005, a United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit three-judge panel of Arthur Raymond Randolph, John G. Roberts, Jr. and Stephen F. Williams, unanimously reversed the decision of the District Court. Judge Randolph, who wrote the decision, cited the following reasons for the legality of the military commission:

1. Military commissions are legitimate forums to try enemy combatants because they have been approved by Congress.
2. The Geneva Convention is a treaty between nations and as such it does not confer individual rights and remedies.
3. Even if the Geneva Convention could be enforced in U.S. courts, it would not be of assistance to Hamdan at the time because, for a conflict such as the war against al-Qaeda that is not between two countries, it guarantees only a certain standard of judicial procedure—a "competent tribunal"—without speaking to the jurisdiction in which the prisoner must be tried.
4. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, al Qaeda and its members are not covered.
5. Congress authorized such activity by statute.
6. The judicial branch of the United States government cannot enforce the Convention, thus invalidating Hamdan's argument that he cannot be tried until after his prisoner of war status is determined.