A U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled that prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay naval station may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts.
The two-to-one ruling upholds part of a tough anti-terrorism law signed by President Bush that took away the right of Guantanamo detainees to contest their detentions in U.S. courts.
Judge Raymond Randolph said federal courts have no jurisdiction in the cases. The appeals court rejected the argument by lawyers for the detainees that the antiterrorism law unconstitionally suspended prisoners' rights to challenge their imprisonment.
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the military tribunal system created by President Bush after the September 11, 2001, attacks, he went to Congress to get authority under a new law signed in October.
There are currently about 395 detainees being held at the controversial Guantanamo detention center. The first prisoners arrived there more than five years ago.
During the last two years, human rights activists have accused the U.S military of violating international law by using inhumane treatment against the terrorism suspects held in Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay naval station in Cuba.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and several European countries have called on the United States to close down the detention center, but the Bush administration has rejected their request.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
