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War crimes tribunals to resume at Guantanamo
US military tribunals convene on Wednesday in the war crimes trials of two Guantanamo prisoners.
US military tribunals convene on Wednesday in the war crimes trials of two Guantanamo prisoners, a Yemeni accused of guarding Osama bin Laden and a Canadian captured in Afghanistan when he was just 15 and charged with murdering an Army medic.
The hearings will convene on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Guantanamo and represent the latest attempt by the Pentagon to move forward with the trials, which have been repeatedly blocked by legal challenges.
The United States has faced criticism at home and abroad for treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo and for holding them indefinitely. Only nine of about 500 prisoners have been charged since the United States began holding suspects at the base in January 2002.
Federal judges have halted proceedings against other prisoners until the US Supreme Court decides whether President George W Bush had the authority to create the tribunal system. The high court was scheduled to hear arguments in March.
The last tribunal hearing was held in November, shortly before the Pentagon suspended the process in the face of the negative court rulings.
Tomorrow, Yemeni Ali Hamza al Bahlul and Canadian Omar Khadr may enter pleas to the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a military spokeswoman said.
