Detainees held at the Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan cannot challenge their imprisonment in US courts, a federal court of appeals ruled in a decision announced Friday, dpa reported.
The three-judge panel ruled that the detainees are held in coordination with the Afghan government and therefore do not have the right to pursue their case in American courts as is afforded Guantanamo Bay detainees.
"The United States holds the detainees pursuant to a cooperative arrangement with Afghanistan on territory as to which Afghanistan is sovereign," chief Judge David Sentelle wrote in the unanimous opinion.
The court concluded that the rights granted by the US Constitution cannot be applied to individuals subject to the laws of Afghanistan.
"While we cannot say that extending our constitutional protections to the detainees would be in any way disruptive of that relationship, neither can we say with certainty what the reaction of the Afghan government would be," Sentelle said.
The case was brought against US Defence Secretary Robert Gates by three Bagram detainees.