US Supreme Court declares Guantanamo tribunals illegal [video report]

WASHINGTON - In a sharp rebuke of President George W. Bush's tactics in the war on terrorism, the US Supreme Court has struck down as illegal the military tribunal system set up to try Guantanamo prisoners.

By a 5-3 vote, the nation's highest court in a landmark decision declared that the tribunals, which Bush created right after the September 11 attacks, violated the Geneva Conventions and US military rules.

The decision was a stinging blow for the administration in a case brought by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was Osama bin Laden's driver in Afghanistan. Hamdan, captured in November 2001, is one of about 450 foreign terrorism suspects at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Justice John Paul Stevens said the court decided the military commission convened to try Hamdan lacked power to proceed because its structure and procedures violated the international agreement that covers treatment of prisoners of war.

It was also in contravention of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Stevens wrote for the court majority.

Stevens, at 86 the high court's longest serving justice and a leading liberal, added: "The rules specified for Hamdan's trial are illegal."

He said the tribunals failed to provide one of the most fundamental protections under US military rules, the right for a defendant to be present at all proceedings.

In a 73-page opinion, he also said there was no reason why Hamdan could not be tried under the greater procedural safeguards in the US military justice system that apply to courts-martial proceedings.

At the White House, Bush said he had not fully reviewed the ruling and would consult with the US Congress to attain appropriate authority for military tribunals.

"We take the findings seriously," he said. "The American people need to know that this ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street."

A Pentagon spokesman reiterated the need for a US facility to hold dangerous captives and Bush spokesman Tony Snow added: "This will not mean closing down Guantanamo."

The ruling, handed down on the last day of the court's 2005-06 term, followed the deaths of three Guantanamo prisoners this month and increased calls for Bush to close the prison camp.

US treatment of inmates at Guantanamo and in Iraq and Afghanistan has drawn international criticism and prompted a rash of new calls for their release.

Nicholas Howen, secretary-general of the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva, said, "Now is the time for the Bush administration to move ahead swiftly to release all prisoners in Guantanamo."

One of Hamdan's lawyers, Lieutenabnt Commander Charles Swift, praised the high court action.

"All we wanted was a fair trial," he said outside the Supreme Court. "Yes, it is a rebuke for the process. ... It means we can't be scared out of who we are."

Civil liberties and human rights groups were also jubilant.

Anthony Romero of the American Civil Liberties Union said, "The Supreme Court has made clear that the executive branch does not have a blank check in the war on terror and may not run roughshod over the nation's legal system."

Amnesty International said it "sends a clear message to US President George W. Bush that he cannot act unilaterally to create a system of law from thin air".

Stevens said the military commissions were not authorised by the US Congress. He did not address whether the government can detain Hamdan indefinitely but said the government must "comply with the rule of law" in seeking to try Hamdan and subject him to criminal punishment.

- REUTERS