http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125113859178054457.htmlWASHINGTON -- The U.S. released one of the youngest detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison and sent him home to Afghanistan, the Justice Department said Monday.
Mohammed Jawad, who according to his lawyers may have been as young as 12 when he was detained and moved to the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay more than six years ago, was released in the past day, said Jonathan Hafetz, his American Civil Liberties Union lawyer. The U.S. government says Mr. Jawad was 17 when detained.
U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle last month ordered Mr. Jawad's release. She said if federal authorities wanted to charge him in U.S. criminal court they should do so by Aug. 21. The judge criticized the government's handling of the case.
Authorities said Mr. Jawad allegedly threw a grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers in 2002. Mr. Jawad has maintained that he is innocent and was tortured into confessing, his lawyer said. Federal authorities said recently that they were no longer relying on any statements Mr. Jawad made after he was subjected to harsh interrogations.
A Justice Department official said Mr. Jawad's release didn't preclude charging him in the future.
The Obama administration is pushing ahead with plans to close the Guantanamo prison by January.
Seriously, six years detention without charge, no prosecution is Gitmo anything other than a bad joke?
How much 'intel' would a grenade lobbing 17 year old have anyway?
Fuck Israel
