Court Holds RFRA Applies To Guantanamo Bay

Yesterday in Rasul v. Rumsfeld, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26665 (D DC, May 8, 2006), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act applies to detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It also held that RFRA applies to non-resident aliens, as well as U.S. citizens, and permitted four former Guantanamo detainees (all of whom are British citizens) to proceed with their claim that guards humiliated and harassed them as they tried to practice their religion while in custody. In February, the court had dismissed constitutional and international law claims raised by the same plaintiffs. (See prior posting.)