The Justice Department has conceded that it lacks the evidence to hold a teenage Guantanamo prisoner as an enemy combatant after a federal judge ruled that his confession was inadmissible because it was obtained through torture. But the Obama administration is asking a federal court for permission to continue holding Mohamed Jawad at Guantanamo until it decides whether to bring him to the US for a criminal trial. Afghan officials say Jawad was as young as twelve at the time of his capture seven years ago. Jawad’s confession that he threw a grenade at a US soldier reportedly came after an interrogator threatened to kill him and his family. Jonathan Hafetz of the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the Obama administration for continuing to hold the young man. Hafetz said, “They’re simply trying to manufacture new ways to prolong his detention.”