The policy of the Bush administration was to treat the terrorists at Gitmo in "the spirit of the Geneva Conventions" while not according thme the POW designation. I could have been clearer but a lie? No, its not one of my failings.
And who gets to make that determination? The desk sargeant? or some low level sked C in the pentagon?
The spirit of the Geneva convention is that you do this in accordance with lawfully established principals. Suppose I was a visiting yachtsman and an American citizen and found myself classified as an unlawful combattant and shipped off to Guantanomo. When do I get to tell a judge - sorry you got the wrong guy - call my wife and kids at home in Oshkosh WI.
Let me give you a clue. I am a retired O-6 Navy. While I have a lot of confidence in military procedures when they are followed - I know from direct personal experience how amuck things can go when you let people extemporise.
The stench we all know of as Abu Ghraib ought to give you a clue as to what happens when you let folks take the law into their own hands.
I could not give a stuff about the rights of terrorists. I only worry about my own rights, and I fear that if anyone's rights can be violated without due process then so can mine. Sorry, but I've been there and seen it.