Senate Approves Terror Suspects' Court Access

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved a bill that would allow terrorism suspects access to federal courts to challenge their imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The committee, on an 11–8 vote, advanced the bill, which would allow prisoners to protest their detentions by the Bush administration. All of the committee's Democrats and Senator Specter of Pennsylvania, the committee's top Republican, voted for the legislation. The rest of the GOP senators voted against it.

Congress, while under GOP control last year, stripped federal courts of jurisdiction over Guantanamo cases. As a result, detainees only had recourse to challenge their imprisonment through special military tribunals that omitted rights common in civil courts.

But Democrats and Mr. Specter say a person's right to file a special legal petition to protest detention, known as a writ of habeas corpus, is considered a fundamental right in civilized society. Eliminating that right would undermine the nation's reputation abroad, they said.

The bill passed without debate.