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Military Commissions
On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2009, which was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). MCA 2009 is the third attempt at creating a military commissions system. The new reforms to the system include some improvements over the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the November 12, 2001 Military Order issued by President Bush which first created a military commissions system after September 11. MCA 2009 however, still fails to provide many of the fundamental elements of a fair trial found in federal civilian courts and a court martial system. For example, the rules permit the admission of coerced testimony obtained at the point of capture; they use an overbroad definition of who can be tried before military commissions that includes juveniles and those not even engaged in hostilities; and they permit defendants to be tried ex-post facto for conduct not considered to constitute a war crime at the time it was committed.
To date three individuals have been convicted in the military commissions system, David Hicks, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, and Al Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul.
On November 13, 2009, the Justice Department announced that the cases of the September 11 defendants — who had been charged in the military commissions in 2008 — will be transferred for prosecution in the Southern District of New York.
Background of Previous Military Commissions
On November 13, 2001, President Bush issued a Military Order that authorized the trial of non-U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism before military commissions. In July 2003, the Administration designated six men to be tried before the military commissions - all of them detainees at the U.S. Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Two of the designated detainees were subsequently released. The military commissions began on August 23, 2004. On June 29, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld held that the military commissions violated U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions.
On October 17, 2006, President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act 2006 (MCA) into law. The MCA, among other things, establishes a system of military commissions for trials of non-U.S. citizen individuals who have been determined to be “unlawful enemy combatants.”
Read Human Rights First's Analysis of the Proposed Military Commissions Rules (PDF-106KB)
Military Commissions Resource Page Prior to 2006
Military Commission Monitoring
Human Rights First is an official observer at the military commissions at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Read blog entries by Human Rights First representatives who monitored the military commissions.
Cases Before Military Commissions in 2010
The Case of Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi »
The Case of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi »
The Case of Noor Uthman Muhammed »
Military Commission Convictions to Date
The Case of Al Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul »
The Case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan »
Combatant Status Review Tribunals
On July 30, 2004, the Defense Department began conducting "Combatant Status Review" hearings for those held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These hearings were created by the Bush Administration in response to the Supreme Court's June 2004 decisions in Rasul v. Bush and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, which affirmed detainees' rights to challenge their detentions. Human Rights First believes these hearings fail to satisfy the Supreme Court's rulings, and do not otherwise meet basic fair trial requirements of U.S. and international law.
Read HRF's analysis of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals 2006
Read HRF's analysis of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals 2004
DOD Documents CSRTs and ARBs
- Order Establishing Combatant Status Review Tribunal, July 7, 2004
- DOD Fact Sheet: Combatant Status Review Tribunals, July 7, 2004
- Combatant Status Review Tribunal: Notice to Detainees, July 12, 2004 (PDF 171KB)
- Gordon England News Briefing, July 16, 2004
- Gordon England News Briefing, July 9, 2004
- DOD News Briefing, July 7, 2004
Administrative Review Board