White House will release detainee per judge’s order

WASHINGTON – Avoiding a showdown with a federal judge, the Obama administration agreed Wednesday to release from Guantanamo Bay an Afghan prisoner who was captured as a teenager and held nearly seven years for allegedly throwing a grenade at U.S. soldiers.

The government said it would “promptly release” Mohammed Jawad, now 23, and send him to Afghanistan – but only after it sent a required notification to Congress explaining whether his release would pose a risk to national security. That would take 22 days, the administration said.

The tentative end to the case is the latest step in the Obama administration’s effort to close the prison. Of the more than 200 detainees who remain at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, some are being released and sent home while others are being held for trial. A third group has proved the most troublesome. They are believed to be too dangerous to release but cannot be tried because the evidence against them is tainted.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union had fought for Jawad’s release, and a military judge at Guantanamo agreed the only evidence against him came from a confession that resulted from torture.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Guantanamo prisoners could challenge their detentions before a federal judge through a writ of habeas corpus. And acting on such a writ, U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle ruled the government had no basis for continuing to hold Jawad.

The Obama administration balked, believing that other evidence from eyewitnesses could show he was guilty of throwing the grenade. The judge, however, insisted Jawad was entitled to go free.

The case could have led to a constitutional showdown, because no judge has forced the release of a Guantanamo prisoner over the objections of the government. But in Wednesday’s order, the administration agreed it would release Jawad.