WASHINGTON, Dec 19: A US appeals court ruled on Friday that the Bush administration cannot detain Guantanamo Bay prisoners indefinitely without trial and cannot deny them access to lawyers.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a strongly worded 2-1 decision, said indefinite imprisonment at the US prison facility in Cuba was inconsistent with American laws.

“The government’s position is inconsistent with fundamental tenets of American jurisprudence and raises most serious concerns under international law,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the decision.

“We simply cannot accept the government’s position that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included, on territory under the sole jurisdiction and control of the United States, without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum, or even access to counsel.”