After nearly seven years in U.S. custody, Mohammed Jawad was released and flown home to Afghanistan over the weekend. One of his defense attorneys, Marine Maj. Eric Montalvo, accompanied Jawad as a private citizen on this trip home.

The ACLU represented Jawad in his habeas corpus case in federal court, which challenged his illegal detention and prosecution before the military commissions at Guantánamo. Of the 200-plus Gitmo detainees who still remain, two facts stood out with Jawad's case. First, his age: he was a teenager, possibly as young as 12, when he was captured. And second, Jawad's former lead military prosecutor, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, left the military commission in September 2008 because he did not believe he could ethically proceed with Jawad's case.

While in U.S. custody, Jawad was held in solitary confinement and subjected to Guantánamo's infamous "frequent flyer" sleep deprivation program. He attempted suicide in December 2003 by repeatedly slamming his head against his cell wall. Two judges — first his military commission judge, then a federal court judge — ruled that evidence gleaned through Jawad's torture and coercion was inadmissible. Despite all this, there's hope for Jawad's future, as his habeas co-counsel, Air Force Maj. David Frakt, told us in May:

Mohammed finally is starting to have some hope that he may be released sometime soon and see his family again. During our visit, the psychologist that accompanied me asked what his plans were. He said, "You are a doctor, you help people. Major Frakt is a lawyer, he helps people. When I get out, I want to get an education so I can help people. I want to be a doctor and take care of the people in my country."

What Jawad endured is not unusual. In fact, it's pretty common among the detainees at Guantánamo. After years of detention with no end in sight, it's time for President Obama to expedite justice for those detained at Guantánamo. At this point, we should have been able to gather enough evidence to charge those suspected of a crime in federal court. If there's no credible evidence, then continued detention is unacceptable. Indefinite detention is unlawful and goes against America's basic values of fairness and justice. Act now: tell President Obama to reject indefinite detention and close Guantánamo.

Despite its recent concession that the bulk of its case against Guantánamo Bay detainee Mohammed Jawad consists of evidence illegally obtained through torture, the Obama administration announced on Friday that it may attempt to bring criminal charges against Jawad in U.S. federal court. This sudden change of course represents the latest in a series of desperate attempts by the government to detain Jawad, who was captured during his early teenage years, without credible evidence and without cause. And even though it now concedes that Jawad's seven-year detention and torture at the hands of the U.S. was illegal, the government still thinks it can circumvent the opinions of a U.S. District Court judge, the Afghan Attorney General, Jawad's former military prosecutor, and countless others, by continuing to hold him illegally and on unsubstantiated grounds.

Jawad, who may have been as young as 12 when he was captured in Afghanistan, has been held for nearly seven years in U.S. custody on the unsubstantiated basis that he threw a hand grenade at two U.S. soldiers. The government's case against him consists almost entirely of statements Jawad made under torture, which have been ruled inadmissible by military and U.S. courts.

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle said what we were all thinking when she told the government that its case against Jawad was "in shambles" during a hearing on July 16. Judge Huvelle told the government's lawyers — in no uncertain terms — that their failure to bring a viable case against Jawad, despite having illegally detained him for almost seven years, amounts to an insult to the court and an outrage against justice. Judge Huvelle put it best in her own scathing criticism of the government's lawyers:

This case is riddled with holes. And you know it … The United States Government knows it is lousy. If you can't rely on [Jawad]'s statements, you have a lousy case … The case is in shambles.

Nonetheless, the government refuses to let go. Even though its past reliance on Jawad's coerced statements has been soundly rejected — first by a military judge last fall, then by Judge Huvelle — the government is now trying to circumvent those decisions by asking the court for permission to continue holding Jawad indefinitely while it decides whether to bring criminal proceedings against him in U.S. court. If the government was not able to make a credible case against Jawad while relying on coerced evidence, it will certainly not be able to make a case against him now.

Yesterday, we filed a brief asking the court to deny the government's request. The Afghan government has indicated that it is prepared to receive Jawad immediately and unconditionally, and that the repatriation could be done without any cost to the U.S.

The Afghan Attorney General has already demanded his long-overdue return, and the sentiment that Jawad should be released has been echoed by Judge Huvelle and countless others, including the former lead prosecutor in his case. The administration has entrenched itself in an unsupportable case, but it's not too late to make things right by admitting defeat and sending giving Jawad his freedom back.

Tomorrow, we'll be back before Judge Huvelle for a status hearing. Yesterday, Judge Huvelle ordered the government to turn over a plan for resolving the case by 5 p.m. tonight.

As President Obama travels overseas, it is a good time to remember the United States’ potential to lead by example. Today, the ACLU ran an ad in the daily Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, asking President Obama to restore American values of justice.

The only way for America to live up to its highest ideals is to close Guantánamo, try detainees suspected of a crime in our federal court system, and resettle or repatriate those who are not charged and tried in places where they will not be persecuted, tortured or abused.

While several European countries have recently expressed interest in resettling more Guantánamo detainees, the United States has been unwilling to resettle the detainees here in the United States. Our stalling is not only hypocritical, but detrimental. Closing Guantánamo is first and foremost the responsibility of the United States, and we can’t make the necessary progress without taking the first steps ourselves.

The Obama administration must resettle inside the U.S. detainees that have been cleared of national security threats, such as the Uighurs, members of an ethnic Muslim minority from Northwestern China. Since May 2006, 17 Uighurs have been detained in Guantánamo, four of whom were recently resettled in Bermuda. Thirteen Uighurs remain at Guantánamo despite being cleared of being “enemy combatants.” Negotiations to resettle them in Palau are ongoing, but not final. If Palau ultimately refuses to take the Uighurs, the Obama administration and Congress must reconsider their position and resettle them here (or perhaps the Supreme Court will have to do it for them).

On July 3, President Obama told the Associated Press that the idea of indefinite detention “gives me huge pause.” But recent signs indicate the possibility of a policy of indefinite detention. As the ACLU has said time and time again, indefinite detention would dismantle the constitutional right to due process, protected by the Fifth Amendment. And it would be a human rights disaster.

We cannot have other countries cleaning up our mess. As we say in our ad, the world is watching. It is about time to practice what we preach.

Take Action: Tell President Obama to stop indefinite detention and close Guantánamo.

Last week, our friend – journalist Andy Worthington – reminded readers of a forgotten anniversary: the second anniversary of a death at Guantánamo – apparently by suicide.

This week, the world learned of yet another death at Guantánamo – another apparent suicide of 31-year old Yemeni national Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Salih – who has been detained since February, 2002. Salih's death bumps up the total death count at Gitmo to six. Of these deaths, five are believed to be suicide.

As Ben Wizner, a staff attorney with our National Security Project, stated, "Tragic deaths like this one have become all too common in a system that locks up detainees indefinitely without charge or trial."

You may recall that back in January, the ACLU and a handful of other human rights groups sent a letter to President Obama asking him to grant full access to the detention center so that we could review the conditions of confinement and make recommendations for revising U.S. detention policies. We were never granted access.

In light of this tragic news, we are renewing that call, and asking for an immediate, independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding this apparent suicide and the conditions of confinement at Guantánamo.

In an ACLU statement about the suicide, Ben also stated: "There is no room for a system of indefinite detention without charge or trial under our Constitution. Detainees against whom there is legitimate evidence should be tried in our federal courts – not in the reconstituted military commissions now being proposed. Those against whom there is no legitimate evidence must not be given a de-facto life sentence by being locked up forever."