'War on terror' courts illegal?

2005-11-07 20:13

Washington - The US supreme court said on Monday that it would rule on the legality of the special military courts set up for "war on terror" detainees, following an appeal from Osama bin Laden's former driver detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

The US high court, which issued no public statement on its decision, will examine the legality of the special military tribunals in early 2006.

The appeal had been filed by the al-Qaeda leader's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who has been held at the US naval base since 2002.

Hamdan was detained in Afghanistan in November 2001.

He has been charged with conspiracy to stage attacks on civilians, murder and terrorism. He has denied the charges.

He was the first defendant before the special military trials at Guantanamo, which have been widely criticised by human rights groups, though the US government has insisted they are fair and legal.

His trial was halted in November when a Washington district court judge ruled that the commissions would violate Hamdan's rights and that he should not be tried until a proper body had decided whether he was a prisoner of war.

But a US appeals court ruled on July 15 that the controversial military trials for Guantanamo detainees were legal.

The three-judge court included John Roberts, who was recently appointed the supreme court's new chief justice.

Due to his role in the appeals court decision, Roberts will have to recuse himself from Hamdan's supreme court hearing, leaving the decision to eight of the top court's nine judges.

Fifteen detainees at Guantanamo have been designated for military commission trials. Four have been formally charged.

- AFP