WASHINGTON, June 29: The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 5-3 to strike down the military tribunal system set up to try prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Following are four main points from the 177-page ruling.
* The military tribunals, created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, may not proceed because they violate US military rules and the Geneva Conventions — international agreements on how to treat prisoners of war.
* The military commissions were not expressly authorised by the US Congress and President George Bush’s order creating the tribunals exceeded the limits that Congress placed on the president’s power to convene military courts.
* Prisoners like Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the Guantanamo inmate who brought the case to the Supreme Court, should be tried through the courts-martial system, which is already established in the US military justice system and offers greater procedural safeguards.
* The military commissions do not allow Guantanamo defendants to have access to all evidence the government may use against them. In addition, the tribunals failed to provide one of the most fundamental rights under US military rules — the right for a defendant to be present at all proceedings.—Reuters
