The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on March 29 overturned a lower court's decision granting release to Yemeni Guantánamo Bay detainee Uthman Abdul Rahim Mohammed Uthman. Uthman's 2004 habeas corpus petition challenging his basis for detention was granted when the US District Court for the District of Columbia determined that the government had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Uthman had received and executed orders from al-Qaeda. The appeals court rejected this "command structure test" used by the lower court and struck down the ruling, blocking Uthman's release. The appeals court found that decisions made since Uthman's petition dictate that, regarding the detention authority granted by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)], determinations of whether individuals are al-Qaeda members must employ a functional approach on a case-by-case basis, rather than the formal approach used in Uthman's case.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), along with five co-sponsors, introduced legislation March 10 that would prohibit funding for civilian trials of Guantánamo Bay detainees and place restrictions on the transfer of detainees to foreign countries. The Military Detainee Procedures Improvement Act of 2011 would require "greater scrutiny on the security situation and ability of the host country to monitor a detainee" after transfer from Guantánamo. It also purports to "[r]eaffirm[] the President's authority to detain members of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and affiliated terrorist groups based on the authority granted by Congress in the Authorization for Use of Military Force." The legislation would require members of terrorists groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban to be held in military custody when captured, and require annual review of whether detainees can be released.

US President Barack Obama on March 7 issued an executive order allowing military commissions for Guantánamo Bay detainees to resume. New charges in the military commission system have been suspended since shortly after Obama took office in 2009. The new order also establishes a procedure for establishing a review process for detainees who have not been charged, convicted or designated for transfer. In a statement, Obama said:

An interesting juxtaposition of news clips concerning lefty icon Julian Assange. First, from the New York Times, March 1:

Assange Complains of Jewish Smear Campaign
A report published by a British magazine on Tuesday said the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, suggested that British journalists, including the editor of The Guardian, were engaged in a Jewish-led conspiracy to smear his organization.

A US military tribunal on Feb. 18 sentenced Sudanese Guantánamo Bay detainee Noor Uthman Mohammed to 14 years in prison following a plea agreement in which he admitted to helping al-Qaeda and providing material support to terrorism. Mohammed admitted earlier this week to meetings with al-Qaeda and acting as a weapons instructor and manager at the Khaden military camp in Afghanistan, where hijackers and other members of al-Qaeda trained prior to the 9-11 attacks. Mohammed was charged in May 2008 and has been detained at Guantánamo since his capture in Pakistan in 2002. As part of his plea agreement, Mohammed promised to cooperate with US investigators in ongoing investigations. If he does so, he will likely be released in advance of the 14 years to which he was sentenced.

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 18 denied a petition for writ of habeas corpus of a Yemeni man currently detained at Guantánamo Bay. Judge Ricardo Urbina held that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Mashour Abdullah Muqbel Alsabri provided material support to the Taliban, al-Qaeda or associated enemy forces. The court found that the petitioner traveled to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban or al-Qaeda, stayed at Taliban or al-Qaeda guesthouses, received military training at an al-Qaeda facility, traveled to the battle lines and was captured during armed conflict. The court found no evidence that the petitioner dissociated with these enemy forces at any point prior to his capture. These findings taken together, the court said, support the government's contention that the petitioner was lawfully detained. The petitioner was arrested in 2002 and filed his habeas corpus petition in October 2006.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a congressional hearing Feb. 17 that Guantánamo Bay is unlikely to be closed because of security concerns. Responding to a question from the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Gates said that the odds of closing the detention facility are "very, very low," particularly because of congressional opposition, the difficulty in predicting which detainees are likely to return to terrorist activities and restrictions on detainees being brought to the US for trial under the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act of 2011. Gates made his comments one day after CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress that, if captured, Osama bin Laden and his second-in-command would probably be sent to Guantánamo Bay. At his first press briefing on Feb. 16, press secretary Jay Carney said that President Barack Obama still aims to close Guantánamo, despite Panetta's comments.

Sudanese Guantánamo Bay detainee Noor Uthman Mohammed pleaded guilty before a military tribunal Feb. 16 to terrorism charges. Mohammed entered guilty pleas to one count of providing material support of terrorism and one count of conspiracy. The charges against him stem from supposed meetings with al-Qaeda and his service as a weapons instructor and manager at the Khaden military camp in Afghanistan, where hijackers and other members of al-Qaeda trained prior to the 9-11 attacks. Mohammed was charged in May 2008 and has been detained at Guantánamo since his capture in Pakistan in 2002. Prior to the plea agreement, the details of which have not been released, Mohammed faced life in prison if convicted. A jury, consisting of at least five US military officers will now be chosen to issue a sentence in the hearing, set to begin this week.