JUDGE ORDERS JAWAD RELEASED BY AUGUST 21.

August 21.

That's the date Judge Ellen Huvelle has set for Mohammed Jawad's "prompt" transfer home to Afghanistan, pending a report to Congress on Jawad's status.

"I want to see a status report, and I have every expectation on August 24, that he will be flying, en route, transatlantic as you put it," said the judge.

Nevertheless, Jawad's attorneys expressed concerns about the conditions of Jawad's travel, namely that he would be traveling by military transport and could be shackled and hooded during the journey. One of Jawad's lawyers, Major David Frakt, argued that such conditions are for "enemy combatants who have been lawfully detained, not innocent people who have been unlawfully detained."

"This is not a national security issue," added Frakt.

Judge Huvelle said that she would put in her order that Jawad's treatment be "humane" but that she didn't have jurisdiction to determine the travel conditions of his transfer. The lawyer for the Department of Justice, Ian Gershengorn, said, "The government shares your honor's concern about jurisdiction here," stating that Jawad would be treated "humanely, consistent with security and operational concerns."

Another issue seems to be the deal the State Department is negotiating with Afghanistan over Jawad's transfer and the possibility that he could be detained and prosecuted by Afghan authorities on arrival. Frakt argued that whatever deal the DoS strikes with the Afghan government should not include an agreement that entails Jawad being prosecuted on arrival -- but conceded that if the Afghan government decided to do so independently was a separate issue.

Judge Huvelle, for her part, seemed to discourage a potential prosecution, either as part of an agreement with Afghanistan or as a part of the Justice Department's ongoing criminal investigation.

"Enough has been imposed on this young man to date," she said. "I hope the government will succeed in immediately sending him home."

-- A. Serwer