Limiting Civil Liberties- The U.S. Government Combating Terrorism

The purpose of my research which was conducted in spring 2005 was todiscover how far the U.S. Government can go in limiting the right to habeascorpus (the right to judicial review of detention) while combating terrorism.The main finding of my work is that the Government's attempt to deny individualsheld in Guantanamo Bay the right to habeas corpus is not in linewith previous U.S. Supreme Court war time cases. On the other hand the U.S.Government's approach runs counter international law and violates the internationallyrecognized human rights standards on judicial review ofdetention. It is shown that under international human rights law there areestablished standards for the propriety of detention applicable in times ofboth peace and war. The judicial review of the legality of detention is themost important safeguard against arbitrary arrest and a basic proceduralguarantee of justice and rule of law. The fundamental right to habeas corpuscannot be eliminated even in the mists of war on terror. The book is primarilyaddressed to students and scholars interested in civil liberties in particularthe significance of the judicial review of detention in the war on terror.