Washington, DC, June 28--The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) welcomes two United States Supreme Court decisions regarding the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and the American citizen caught in Afghanistan and their access to US courts.

The United States Supreme Court decided today the approximately 600 "enemy combatants" held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba can use the US legal system to legally challenge their detention. Today's Supreme Court decision reverses a previous lower court ruling which had said the detainees did not have rights within the United States legal system. The ruling did not address the issue of the detainee's guilt or innocence, nor did the US Supreme Court address issues of human rights regarding the prisoner's detainment without trial for more than two years.

In a related case, which centers on the US born detainee Yaser Esam Hamdi, the court decided that while US citizens designated as "enemy combatants" could be detained without trial, they have the right to challenge their detention in US courts. In regards to the Hamdi case, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that a state of war was "not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens".

ADC views these two rulings as a major victory in upholding due process rights. ADC President Mary Rose Oakar said the rulings were, "a great victory in protecting our core values as Americans."

It should be noted that the court evaded a third major terrorism case, ruling that a lawsuit filed on behalf of detainee Jose Padilla improperly named Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld instead of a lower-level military officer in charge of the Navy ship in South Carolina where Padilla has been held for more than two years. Padilla must refile a lawsuit challenging his detention in a lower court.