JURIST - Paper Chase: Federal appeals court remands Guantanamo detainee bid to block Algeria transfer

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Friday remanded [PDF text] to district court a bid by Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Belbacha [BBC profile] to obtain a preliminary injunction barring his transfer back to his home country of Algeria. The court in January had initially stayed [JURIST report] his transfer against the urging of the Bush administration. Belbacha has been cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], but says he will be tortured or killed by either the government or al Qaeda if returned to Algeria.

The US Supreme Court in August denied [PDF text] Belbacha's emergency request to stay his transfer to Algeria [JURIST report]. Belbacha filed the emergency application for a stay [PDF text] after the DC Circuit appeals court lifted an earlier stay [order, PDF; JURIST report] on Belbacha's transfer. The court instead put the case on an expedited schedule. US District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer ruled [AP report] in July the court lacked jurisdiction to block Belbacha's transfer. AP has more.

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