Jose Padilla, a US citizen, has been held incommunicado in US military custody for a year without charge or trial. He is being held as an “enemy combatant”, even though he was arrested far from a battlefield. An appeal by the US government is currently pending against a US district court’s order that Jose Padilla be given access to his lawyer. The outcome of this case could set an important legal precedent regarding the government’s power to detain people on national security grounds.
