U.S. Notes Appeal of Padilla Order Allowing Detainee Access to Counsel

On March 25, 2003, the U.S. Government notified Judge Michael B. Mukasey, U.S. District Court in New York City that it will seek an expedited appeal of his order permitting Jose Padilla to meet with lawyers challenging his detention as an enemy combatant. Mr. Padilla has been held for more than months in military custody. Since June 2002, the U.S. Government has detained him in a navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina on a designed by President Bush that he is an enemy combatant. The U.S. Government announced its intention to appeal the day before they were ordered to report on the arrangements they had made for such meetings. The U.S. charges Mr. Padilla, a U.S. citizen, with meeting with al Qaeda persons in Afghanistan and then entering the U.S. to help with a plan to detonate a radioactive bomb. In December 2002, Judge Mukasey ruled Mr. Padilla should be allowed to meet with the lawyers who are challenging the reality of his detention, and ordered the Government moved Judge Mukasey to remove his ruling, stating Mr. Padilla had undergone months of interrogations and such efforts to extract intelligence could be jeopardized. However, Judge Mukasey denied its motion and directed the U.S. prosecutors to make the necessary arrangements with the defense. The decision of the U.S. Government to appeal will be closely watched by many interested parties, including the U.S. military and national security groups, U.S. civil liberates groups, interested foreign governments, the media, and persons following international criminal and human rights law. The Padilla case has broad significance in the context of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the capturing of thousands of Iraqi soldiers. Some observers express concern that the ability of the military to detain would be terrorists may lead to abuses.