The Pentagon set up the tribunals in response to the June 28 rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided in three cases that U.S. citizens ordered detained by the president as “enemy combatants” must be given their day in court.

The tribunals are comprised of U.S. military officers. The first included two Air Force colonels and a Navy commander. In the tribunals, prisoners are denied any legal counsel on the grounds that these are administrative proceedings.

The Department of Defense has not released any information on the proceedings of the first tribunal or the name of the inmate involved. The hearings were not open to the press. In a July 30 press briefing, U.S. Navy secretary Gordon England said that the Pentagon intends to allow a “small media pool” to observe the “unclassified part of the tribunals” in the future.

It is not clear whether the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has been critical of the treatment of the prisoners at Guantánamo, will be allowed to observe the proceedings. When asked if the military was going to allow any international observers, England replied, “We are in consultation with ICRC for their potential participation.”

“Over the next few weeks,” England stated, “we will then set up two more tribunal teams…. We are hoping that each team can conduct 24 tribunals a week.” England said some of the inmates may be released. “If they’re not enemy combatants, they will be free,” he said.

Those still labeled “enemy combatants” by the tribunals will go though an annual review process “to determine if the detainee continues to be a threat to the United States or to our allies,” England said.

The military official did not answer reporters’ questions on the status of habeas petitions filed, or the right of inmates to habeas corpus—that is, requests by prisoners to have their cases heard before a judicial court—saying that was the jurisdiction of the U.S. Justice Department.

Meanwhile, four French citizens—Mourad Benchellali, 24; Imad Kanouni, 27; Nizar Sassi, 22; and Brahim Yadel, 33—were released from Guantánamo into French custody July 27 after more than two years of imprisonment. Five days later, a French judge decided that the four will remain in jail without charges while they are investigated for “criminal association with a terrorist enterprise.” This ruling is being challenged by defense attorneys for the four. Paris is reportedly still negotiating with Washington for the release of three other French nationals detained at the prison camp.

The Moroccan state news agency MAP said that five Moroccans—Mohamed Ouzar, 24; Mohamed Mozouz, 30; Radouane Chekkouri, 32; Abdellah Tabarak, 49; and Brahim Benchakroun, 24—were sent home August 1, but gave no details on their whereabouts or whether they face any charges.

Najib al-Nuaimi, head of the International Committee for Defending Guantánamo Prisoners, said he expects more detainees to be released. “More than 56 prisoners, including Arabs from Gulf countries, will be liberated soon for lack of evidence to back accusations against them,” he said.

Since the Guantánamo camp opened over two and a half years ago, 156 prisoners have been released, 27 of whom were transferred to the control of other governments.
 
 
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