The American terror trials of al-Qaeda and Taleban...

The American terror trials of al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects will give defendants more rights than had previously been expected, but will still allow prosecutors greater leeway than in normal courts, the Bush Administration said.
Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, publicised a format for the tribunals that bore noticeable differences from the proposals originally announced by President Bush, which were greeted with criticism in 2001.
Rumsfeld said that the plan for the commissions was "balanced, it is fair, it is designed to produce just outcomes. Justice will be served." He said that the tribunals, which could hand down death sentences, were designed to protect the rights of terrorists while guarding the security of Americans.
Under the rules laid out by Rumsfeld, foreign suspects who are charged with terror crimes will be presumed innocent, allowed legal representation and have limited right of appeal. Standards for evidence will, however, be looser than usual. One significant change from the plan outlined by Bush is that the presiding panels of three to seven judges will have to vote unanimously to pass a death sentence.
Bush had suggested a two-thirds majority. Originally it was proposed that convictions could not be subject to appeal, but under the new rules military officers will be able to review a decision. Perhaps most significantly, given the difficulty of obtaining evidence against suspects being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and elsewhere, hearsay or second-hand evidence will be admissible. Such evidence is not allowed in typical criminal trials or courts martial.
The tribunals will be open to the press and the public, but closed if evidence is classified or deemed a threat to national security.
The plan inevitably provoked criticism, but it had also clearly been designed to pacify those who had opposed the trials and believed that the US would be undermining its case against terrorists and its standing in the world if it was seen to be denying them basic rights.
For many of the 300 suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, including five Britons, the format of the tribunals is irrelevant. They are regarded as lowly foot soldiers who will not be tried. What their fate will be is uncertain. Many of them are expected to be detained indefinitely. Rumsfeld said that no "candidates" had yet been found for trial in the tribunals. He said that the panels would be used in rare cases, if at all, and only if the suspects' home countries did not take over prosecution.
He can expect complaints from European countries that oppose the death penalty, as well as civil liberties groups. The Defence Secretary was unperturbed: "There will always be critics. It's a free country," he said.
Amnesty International said that the commissions "threaten to severely undermine, rather than reinforce, confidence in the administration of justice and maintenance of the rule of law."
Other critics of military trials for the detainees, including the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that the prisoners could be denied due process rights under the proposed arrangements.