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Hearings for terror suspects before US military tribunals in Guantanamo are going ahead despite a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed detainees have a right to challenge their detention in a civilian court. Legal experts had described the high court's decision as the death knell of the special tribunals created by President George W. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress to try "war on terror" suspects. But Justice Department chief Michael Mukasey said the controversial tribunals at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba would continue their work and last week, two preliminary hearings were held as scheduled. The...

5 Ex-Chief Diplomats: Close Guantanamo Mar 27 08:46 PM US/Eastern By GREG BLUESTEIN Associated Press Writer ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Five former U.S. secretaries of state on Thursday urged the next presidential administration to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and open a dialogue with Iran. The former chiefs of American diplomacy, who served in Democratic and Republican administrations, reached a consensus on the two issues at a conference in Athens aimed at giving the next president some bipartisan foreign policy advice. Each of them said shuttering the prison camp in Cuba would bolster America's image abroad. "It says to...

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2006 – Military tribunals -- not courts-martial or civilian court procedures -- are the best way to try enemy combatants for war crimes, a senior defense official told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Daniel J. Dell'Orto, the Defense Department's principal deputy general counsel, testified before the committee as it considers the best way to try detainees after the U.S. Supreme Court voted down the use of military tribunals under existing law. During yesterday's hearing, Dell'Orto pointed to the country's history of convening criminal tribunals other than courts-martial in wartime that dates back to the Revolutionary...

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2006 – A bogus suicide attempt yesterday lured guards into a 10-man detainee bay where an attack awaited them, the admiral in charge of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, told reporters today. Two other detainees had attempted suicide earlier in the day. One barrack room in Camp 4, the medium-security facility within Camp Delta at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In Camp 4, highly compliant detainees live in a communal setting and have extensive access to recreation. Photo by Sgt. Sara Wood, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The large skirmish in...