Guantananmo detainees have been allowed to initiate appeals in Washington DC Courts since the passage of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (DTA) closed off the right of Guantanamo captives to submit new petitions of habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

.
It substituted a right to a limited appeal to Federal Courts of appeal in Washington DC.
The Act allowed detainees to challenge whether their Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were established July 7, 2004 by order of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense...

s had correctly followed the rules laid out by the Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

.

After the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006

Military Commissions Act of 2006

The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...

 (MCA) closed down the pending habeas corpus cases, attorneys for the detainees initiated both a challenge to the constitutionality

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

 of the MCA's stripping of the right to habeas corpus; and they started initiating the appeals in the DC Federal Courts of appeal allowed by the DTA.

June 2008 rulings

On June 12, 2008, in Boumediene v. Bush

Boumediene v. Bush

Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 , was a writ of habeas corpus submission made in a civilian court of the United States on behalf of Lakhdar Boumediene, a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, held in military detention by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba...

, the United States Supreme Court ruled the Combatant Status Review Tribunal

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

The Combatant Status Review Tribunals were a set of tribunals for confirming whether detainees held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had been correctly designated as "enemy combatants". The CSRTs were established July 7, 2004 by order of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense...

s provided the detainees with insufficient protection, and re-opened the detainees' access to file habeas corpus.

On June 23, 2008, a three judge panel reviewed the evidence used to justify Parhat's designation as an "enemy combatant" and ruled that he had never been an enemy combatant after all.

Bush Presidency response

On July 21, 2008 United States Attorney General

United States Attorney General

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...

 Michael Mukasey called on the Congress to pass legislation controlling how judges would review the detainees' habeas petitions.
Mukasey was seeking to have the legislation control what evidence should be made public, and to proscribe releasing any of the detainees within the USA.

January 2009 ruling

On January 9, 2008, Douglas H. Ginsburg

Douglas H. Ginsburg

Douglas Howard Ginsburg is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to this court in October 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. He served as its Chief Judge from July 16, 2001 until February 10, 2008...

, writing for the panel, ruled that the court would not hear any additional DTA appeals.

"Had the Congress known its attempts to eliminate the habeas jurisdiction of the district courts would come to naught, it would not have turned around and created an additional and largely duplicative process by which a detainee could challenge his detention in the court of appeals."

Detainees who filed appeals in Federal Court

isn	names	case	notes
103	Arkin Mahmud Arkin Mahmud Arkin Mahmud is an Uyghur refugee best known for the seven and a half years he spent in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts reports Mahmud was born on July 1, 1964, in Ghulja, China....		By August 18, 2008, an unclassified return prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
252	Yasin Mohammed Basardah		On November 5, 2008 the panel suspended his appeal on jurisdictional grounds.
275	Abdul Sabour Wadih el-Hage Wadih el-Hage is a former al-Qaeda member who is serving life imprisonment in the United States for his part in the 1998 United States embassy bombings. He was indicted and arrested in 1998, and convicted on all counts and sentenced to life without parole in 2001...		By August 18, 2008, an unclassified return prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
277	Bahtiyar Mahnut Bahtiyar Mahnut -Transcript:Mahnut participated in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.His Tribunal convened on 23 October 2004 and 27 October 2004.On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Jed Rakoff the Department of Defense published an eighteen page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status...		By August 18, 2008, an unclassified return prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
278	Abdul Nasser Abd Al Nasir Mohammed Abd Al Qadir Khantumani Abd Al Nasir Muhammad Abd Al Qadir Khantumani is a citizen of Syria, best known for the more that eight years he spent in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba....		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
280	Khalid Ali		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
281	Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman Abdul Ghappar Abdul Rahman is an Uyghur refugee best known for the more than seven years he spent in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba....		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
282	Sabir Osman		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
285	Jalal Jalaldin		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
288	Motai Saib		On May 16, 2007, Saib filed a Petition for Release and Other Relief Under Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (“DTA Petition”). In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene, Respondents filed a motion to hold the DTA Petition in abeyance, or in the alternative, to dismiss the DTA Petition, pending the conclusion of his Habeas Petition. Saib has filed a response stating that he does not oppose the abeyance of the DTA Petition, but does oppose dismissal of the DTA Petition.
295	Abdul Semet		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
320	Hozaifa Parhat Hozaifa Parhat -Transcript:Parhat chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.On March 3, 2006, in response to a court order from Judge Jed Rakoff, the Department of Defense published a ten page summarized transcript from his Combatant Status Review Tribunal....	Parhat v. Gates Parhat v. Gates Parhat v. Gates No. 06-1397 is a petition for review under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 filed on behalf of Hozaifa Parhat, and six other Uyghur detainees held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.Susan Baker Manning, one of Parhat's...	On June 23, 2008, a three judge panel reviewed the evidence used to justify Parhat's designation as an "enemy combatant" and ruled that he had never been an enemy combatant after all.
328	Hammad Memet		By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
433	Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al-Sahlani	Case No. 07-1149	Jawad also has a Petition under the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (“DTA”) pending in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Case No. 07-1149. On June 21, 2007, Jawad filed a classified Motion for Production and Protective Order requesting two specific categories of exculpatory evidence known to be in the Government’s possession and now sought in this habeas corpus action. This motion has been fully briefed in the Court of Appeals since July 9, 2007, and the Government continues to refuse to produce clearly exculpatory evidence. The Government asked that Jawad’s DTA action be stayed. Jawad opposed this request, noting that the Supreme Court has held that “both the DTA and the CSRT process remain intact.” Boumediene v. Bush, 533 U.S. ___, slip op. at 66 (June 12, 2008).
584	Adel Noori Adel Noori Adel Noori is an Uyghur refugee best known for the more than seven years he was wrongly imprisoned in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 584....		no factual returns, other than one through a Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act (United States) The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...  request filed by the Associated Press Associated Press The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists... .
684	Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan Mohammed Abdullah Taha Mattan is a Palestiniancurrently held in the United States's Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.As of August 10, 2011, Mohammed Abdullah Tahamuttan has been held at Guantanamo for nine years two months.-External links:...		On July 18, 2008, Sozi P. Tulante filed a Status Report that states a DTA appeal was initiated on his behalf. By August 18, 2008, both unclassified and classified returns prepared in response to a 2007 DTA appeal.
841	Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah		On 18 July 2008 Charles H. Carpenter filed a Status Report where he wrote that Abdullah had a DTA appeal filed on his behalf.
968	Bismullah	Bismullah v. Gates Bismullah v. Gates Bismullah v. Gates is a writ of habeas corpus appeal in the United States Justice System, on behalf of Bismullah -- an Afghan detainee held by the United States in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.-Rasul v. Bush:Initially, the Bush Presidency...	Bismullah's case has been the subject of multiple filings as to the scope that detainees' attorneys should be given to the material behind the summarized allegation.
975	Karim Bostan		On July 18, 2008 when Michael Caruso re-initiated Bostan's habeas petition he stated that he had an outstanding DTA appeal.
10020	Majid Khan		The government’s position that Khan may not use in his habeas case presumptively classified information obtained in connection with his DTA case stands in direct contrast to the position taken by the government in other Guantánamo detainee habeas cases. See, e.g., Resp’ts’ Resp. to Uighur Pet’rs’ Motion to Use CSRTs Provided in DTA Action in this Case at 1-2, In re Guantanamo Bay Detainee Litigation, Misc. No. 08-442 (TFH) (D.D.C. filed Aug. 1, 2008) (dkt. no. 228) (“Subject to adherence to the standard protective orders entered in each of the habeas cases, respondents agree that these petitioners may use the classified CSRT records already filed in their DTA action here in their habeas cases, as long as that is done in a manner consistent with the protective orders.”).