Bush marks six for possible trial by military tribunals

WASHINGTON -- President Bush designated six prisoners to become the first people who could be tried before military tribunals, drawing renewed criticism from defense lawyers of the secretive special courts.

Officials refused to identify the six suspects being held in U.S. custody and suggested their identities might be kept secret during trial.

That drew criticism from the chairman of the American Bar Association's task force on the treatment of terrorism detainees.

"The State Department issues a report every year in which it criticizes those nations that conduct trials before secret military tribunals. What I'm hearing sounds alarmingly like something similar," said Neal Sonnett, also a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"If they're going to be charged by military tribunals then they have a right to full due process and the public has a right to know who's being tried and what the charges are and the government has an obligation to run these tribunals in a fair and transparent way."

All six are believed to be either members of al-Qaida or otherwise involved in terrorism, said two Pentagon officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity Thursday.

Australian detainee David Hicks, who is being held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, likely will be one of the six, said his lawyer, Stephen Kenny. Australia's Federal Attorney General Daryl Williams said Friday that Hicks is among those to be tried.

Hicks, a Muslim who fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army, called his parents 17 days after the Sept. 11 attacks to say he was with the Taliban. He also allegedly threatened to kill an American upon his arrival at Guantanamo, U.S. officials said.

Some of the six may have attended terrorist training camps and some were involved in raising money and recruiting for terrorist groups, the officials said. Under Bush's order creating the military tribunals, only people who are not U.S. citizens may be subject to such trials.

British and Australian officials said Friday that two Britons and one Australian detained in Guantanamo Bay are among those who likely would face a U.S. military trial.

British officials said they would "vigorously" seek access to two nationals, Moazzam Begg, 35, and Feroz Abbasi, 23, who were among those designated by U.S. authorities as the first candidates for trial before a military tribunal.

Kenny said in Australia that his client faced "an American kangaroo court, where after the kangaroo has bounced, then someone else makes the final decision, mainly the president of the United States."

Unlike traditional criminal trials, the proceedings of military tribunals can be kept much more secret. The United States has not convened such a tribunal since World War II.

The next step is for a chief prosecutor to draft charges against any or all of the suspects. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz will then make a separate decision on whether the suspects will actually face trials by what the Pentagon calls military commissions.

Although Pentagon officials would not say where the suspects are imprisoned or where their tribunals might be held, legal experts said the trials likely would be at Guantanamo, where some 680 Taliban and al-Qaida suspects are being held. Officials at Guantanamo Bay have begun planning for construction of court facilities and an execution chamber, since the tribunals may consider imposing the death penalty.

The Pentagon officials also raised the possibility that the military might continue to hold the suspects even if they are acquitted by a tribunal. The prisoners' status as "unlawful combatants" in the war against terrorism is separate from their guilt or innocence on charges brought before a tribunal, a military official involved in the tribunal process said.

Initial criticism of the administration's intent to use such trials was later tempered -- but only somewhat -- when the detailed rules governing them were released. Under those rules, defendants have many traditional legal rights, though they still do not have full constitutional protection, and the standards of evidence are looser.

While the six are the first to be declared subject to trial by tribunal, Bush may designate more suspects for possible military trials. Terrorist suspect Zacarias Moussaoui is among those considered to be a prospect for such a trial.

A U.S. District Court judge in Alexandria, Va., has ruled that, as part of his criminal trial in federal court, Moussaoui could question Ramzi Binalshibh, a suspected organizer of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Arguing that questioning could harm national security, the government is appealing that ruling. But if it loses, it could decide to move Moussaoui's case from civilian court to a military tribunal.

Binalshibh is another captive who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for a military tribunal.

Any tribunal cases would be decided by a panel of three to seven military officers who would act as both judge and jury. Convictions could be handed down by a two-thirds vote; a decision to sentence a defendant to death would have to be unanimous.

All defendants would be given military defense lawyers who would be able to attend any closed hearings discussing classified information. The defendants and their private, civilian lawyers could be excluded from secret hearings.