This article reviews the US Supreme Court cases regarding detention of alleged terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and examines the interplay between international human rights law and the American Constitution with respect to the executive policies of the Bush Administration to detain terror suspects. The article first references the international human rights legal framework regarding detainees, specifically the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and then analyzes seminal cases brought before the Supreme Court by detainees, specifically how the Supreme Court interprets the US Constitution and international law in reaching its decisions regarding detainees at Guantanamo. While the Supreme Court provided detainees the right to challenge the legality of their detentions through habeas corpus petitions, limitations still exist as to the lack of extraterritorial application of rights protections as well as the domestic judicial failure to redress detainees’ subjection to torture and other abusive treatment.

Human Rights of Guantanomo Detainees under International and US Law
  I. Introduction
  II. Detention of ‘Enemy Combatants’ under the Bush Administration
  III. The US Supreme Court Responds
  IV. Evaluation of the US Supreme Court Cases
  V. The US Supreme Court Cases and International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law
  VI. Conclusion

• Patricia Goedde(Sungkyunkwan University School of Law, Seoul, Korea)