ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Bush has named nine more foreign prisoners at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba as eligible to be tried by an American military tribunal, the Pentagon said yesterday.
The nine have not been charged and were not identified by military officials, nor have any tribunals been scheduled. They join six others at Guantanamo Bay whom Mr. Bush had previously designated as eligible for military tribunals.
“The president determined that there is reason to believe that each of these enemy combatants was a member of al Qaeda or was otherwise involved in terrorism directed against the United States,” Pentagon officials said.
The nine may have attended terrorist training camps, provided financing for al Qaeda, planned maritime terrorist attacks, made explosives or been a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, the officials said.
Also yesterday, in response to a Supreme Court ruling, the Bush administration announced that the military will review the individual cases of the 595 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to determine whether they are legally held.
The reviews are an attempt to prepare for expected challenges in civilian courts after the Supreme Court last week said those prisoners can go before a federal judge to seek their freedom.
The Bush administration said the military reviews will provide them some grounding when the prisoners head to court. If the review determines a prisoner is not a lawfully held combatant, he will be released to his home country, according to officials with the Justice and Defense departments who announced the reviews.
A panel of three military officers with no previous connection to the prisoner will hear the review. At least one officer will be a military lawyer.
The prisoner can choose if he wants to participate and can present information in his defense, even calling witnesses. He will be assigned a military officer, who is not a lawyer, to act as a personal representative, the officials said.
Within 10 days, the prisoners will be informed of their new rights and the Supreme Court ruling, according to memo signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz that was provided to reporters.
The military has yet to work out many of the details about how it will provide detainees access to civilian courts and lawyers once they challenge their detention.
Officials said they expected the review panels to begin meeting soon at Guantanamo. They will be overseen by Navy Secretary Gordon England.
They are the third formal procedure announced by the military to determine the prisoners’ fate. Prisoners also will have annual reviews to determine whether they are still a threat. Some prisoners will face military tribunals for crimes the military says they committed.
Many of the Guantanamo detainees were captured on battlefields in Afghanistan in late 2001. Their long detention at the naval base has drawn criticism from human rights groups.
Of the 15 persons now designated for military tribunals, only three have been identified and charged: David Hicks of Australia, Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul of Yemen, and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi of Sudan.
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