Judge to hear Guantanamo detainees case

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments February 14 on whether U.S. courts have jurisdiction to determine whether detainees at Guantanamo Bay should be considered prisoners of war and granted civil rights protections under the U.S. Constitution.

The case arose from a petition filed by civil rights advocates, who also say the government must bring clearly defined charges against the detainees.

In response, government lawyers filed court papers Thursday stating that U.S. district courts have no jurisdiction in determining how the U.S. military deals with the suspected al Qaeda members and Taliban fighters held at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. One reason they cited is that Guantanamo is outside the geographical jurisdiction of any U.S. district court.

In a 32-page response and motion filed in the Central District Court of California, government lawyers also contend that the group of civil rights advocates is not qualified to represent the detainees -- whom the military calls "unlawful combatants" -- because it doesn't have any significant ties to them. The attorneys also said the detainees are not entitled to lawyers of their own choosing.

Attorneys for the civil rights advocates are required to file their response by February 8.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is among the advocates who filed the petition. Clark, who served as attorney general under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1967-1969, said the detainees most certainly are entitled to civil rights.

The court arguments were presented last week before U.S. District Judge Howard Matz on a petition filed by civil rights attorney Stephen Yagman, who represents a coalition of leaders, including academic scholars and journalism professors. In their papers, the group alleges that the 158 detainees are being held in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

The petition also seeks to block any transfer of the detainees from the U.S. base there.

It's believed to be the first U.S. court challenge to the Bush administration's detention of the al Qaeda and Taliban suspects in regard to the validity of military trials and whether courts have jurisdiction to intervene on civil rights issues involving the detainees.

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has said that every detainee is being held for interrogation and at least some of them are operatives of the al Qaeda international terrorist network, and therefore not soldiers for a legal constituted foreign government.

In a hearing last week, Judge Matz ordered both sides to explain whether the Central District Court in California has jurisdiction to hear the case.

The military began transferring prisoners from Afghanistan to Guantanamo in January. Because it has not classified the detainees as "prisoners of war," it is technically exempt from adhering to the provisions of the Geneva Convention.

Nonetheless, military officials contend the United States is treating the prisoners well, while still maintaining rigid security measures.

The detainees are currently being housed in what critics have called "cages," which consist of a roof, a concrete floor, and a chain-link fence serving as walls, which is open to the elements.

Each is given a canteen with water, shampoo, toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap and two buckets, one for hygiene and one for washing. They're supplied with two towels -- one for washing and one to serve as a prayer mat. And they have three meals a day, including one "halal" meal, a meal that meets Muslim religious requirements.