Supreme Court adjourns Gitmo Two ruling to June 22

The Supreme Court has adjourned to June 22, judgement on the case in which the government is being challenged for bringing into Ghana two former Guantanamo bay detainees.

The two ex-detainees: Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, arrived in Ghana on Thursday, January 7, 2016 for a two-year stay as part of an agreement between the United States of America and the Government of Ghana.

However, two Ghanaian citizens Margaret Bamful and Henry Nana Boakye last year sued the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well as the Minister of Interior, accusing the government of illegally bringing in the two without recourse to the laws of the land. 

The two plaintiffs are seeking a true and proper interpretation of Article 75 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, arguing that the President of the Republic of Ghana acted unconstitutionally by agreeing to the transfer of Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby, without recourse to the laws of the land. 

When the case was called on Wednesday May 10, 2017, the seven-member Supreme Court panel, chaired by Justice William Atuguba adjourned the case and asked for further submissions on whether or not Ghana can abrogate an international agreement if it infringes upon domestic laws.

The two Guantanamo bay detainees, Atef and Al-Dhuby had been in detention for 14 years after being linked with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.