Obama Revives Guantanamo Tribunals [video 3 min 58 sec]
Administration officials say that military tribunals will resume this fall for a small number of Guantanamo terror suspects, but under new rules. The detainees will have greater legal protections, though tribunals will be held for only 13 of the 241 detainees at the naval base.
The White House announced Friday that it is reviving Bush-era military tribunals to prosecute about 13 of the roughly 240 detainees remaining at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The new tribunals will apply only to about 13 of the detainees whose cases are under way. Several suspects in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks could be among them, including Khaled Sheik Mohammed, who is accused of planning the attacks. Proceedings are expected to resume by the fall to allow time for the new rules to be put in place.
Reviving the tribunals for just a few of the cases does not resolve the question of what to do with other Guantanamo detainees. Administration officials say they could be transferred to another country or tried in federal court. Some could be held indefinitely.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the new tribunals are designed to provide detainees better protections in court than the earlier commissions. He said the new tribunals "represent a far different system" than the earlier commissions under the Bush administration.
Read entire article at NPR
The White House announced Friday that it is reviving Bush-era military tribunals to prosecute about 13 of the roughly 240 detainees remaining at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The new tribunals will apply only to about 13 of the detainees whose cases are under way. Several suspects in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks could be among them, including Khaled Sheik Mohammed, who is accused of planning the attacks. Proceedings are expected to resume by the fall to allow time for the new rules to be put in place.
Reviving the tribunals for just a few of the cases does not resolve the question of what to do with other Guantanamo detainees. Administration officials say they could be transferred to another country or tried in federal court. Some could be held indefinitely.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the new tribunals are designed to provide detainees better protections in court than the earlier commissions. He said the new tribunals "represent a far different system" than the earlier commissions under the Bush administration.