Nadarajah

Opinion by Judge THOMAS.

Starting at age 17, Ahílan Nadarajah was repeatedly tortured in Sri Lanka. He fled to the United States where he was detained upon arrival. He applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Twice, the government’s arguments against the grant of immigration relief have been rejected and Nadarajah has been awarded relief by an immigration judge. This decision was affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals. Yet, the government continues to detain Nadara-jah, who has now been imprisoned for almost five years despite having prevailed at every administrative level of review and who has never been charged with any crime. We order that a writ of habeas corpus issue, and that he be released on appropriate conditions during the pen-dency of any further proceedings.

I

This is a case about one individual, but as with most immigration cases, it can only be understood in the larger context of country conflict. The backdrop of this case is the quarter century-old battle between the government of Sri Lanki and a group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (“LTTE”) that seeks the creation of an independent…