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Extrajudicial detention
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Extrajudicial detention is the holding of captives, by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.
Detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states.
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In English speaking democracies, since the thirteenth century signing of the Magna Carta, captives were able to call upon the writ of habeas corpus — literally "show the body." This legal procedure required the state to show that there was a meaningful, legal justification for their detention.
In recent decades some democratic countries have introduced limited mechanisms whereby individuals can be detained without being charged or convicted of a crime. See, for example, the Canadian Minister's Security Certificate.
During its "war on terror" the United States has made heavy use of extrajudicial detention.[1][2] Only ten of the captives held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps faced charges. They faced charges before Guantanamo military commissions, which were struck down by the US Supreme Court.
- ^ Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense (July 7, 2004). Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Department of Defense. Retrieved on April 26, 2007.
- ^ Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Department of Defense (October 15, 2006). Retrieved on April 26, 2007.