Judge orders release of young Gitmo detainee

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge ruled Thursday that one of the youngest detainees brought to Guantanamo Bay is being held illegally and must be released — 61‚Ñ2 years after the detainee from Afghanistan says he was tortured into confessing at age 12.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle’s order does not end the case of Mohammed Jawad, however. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Ian Gershengorn told the judge that as the State Department negotiates with the detainee’s home country for his return next month, the Justice Department also is pursuing a criminal investigation.

Gershengorn said Attorney General Eric Holder has not yet decided whether to indict Jawad, who purportedly threw a grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter in December 2002. That means it’s possible he could be brought to the United States for a criminal trial.

Huvelle said she had no authority to prevent an indictment. But she encouraged prosecutors to think hard about problems with the case, including Jawad’s mental competency to stand trial and the fact that someone arrested as a juvenile has already been incarcerated so long. She told the Justice Department attorneys she would be happy to discuss her concerns directly with the attorney general if he’s interested.

Jawad’s age is uncertain because he was born in a refugee camp in Pakistan and there are no records of his birth. He says he was about 12 when he was arrested in December 2002, but the Pentagon says a bone scan shows he was about 17.

He says he confessed throwing the grenade only after Afghan officials threatened to kill him and his family. A military judge agreed that Jawad was tortured and ruled in October that the confession couldn’t be used in military tribunals at Guantanamo.