U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said that he believes most of the people being held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in connection with the campaign against al-Qaeda will continue to be detained, rather than facing trial.

During a press conference at the National Press Club on September 10, Rumsfeld was asked whether trials before military tribunals were likely to be held. He replied that the primary purpose of detaining the men was not to punish them. “If they are terrorists, which they were,” he said, “the purpose, as in most wars, was to get them off the battlefield, to keep them from going back and fighting again and killing people.”

He added that the interest of the United States was not in “trying them and letting them out,” presumably after they had served a sentence, but rather “during this global war on terror, [in] keeping them off the street. And so, that's what's taking place.”

There are currently around 660 detainees being held, from 42 countries. Sixty-eight men have been released or returned to their countries of origin. Three of those still being held are juveniles, and there have been suggestions that they may also be released shortly.

In November 2001, President Bush issued an order authorizing the setting up of military tribunals to try suspects detained in connection with the war on terrorism. The following March, the Secretary of Defense issued detailed regulations to govern the tribunals’ operation. More recently, on July 3, 2003, President Bush designated six detainees as eligible to face trial – including two British citizens and one Australian. However, there have been no further indications that any trials are imminent.

At the National Press Club, Rumsfeld said it was “the President’s decision” whether any detainees should actually be brought to trial before the military commissions. “Thus far,” he continued, “we have the apparatus arranged, ready, and we have a very fine group of advisers as to how to do it in the event it has to be done.” But he added, “For the moment, we don't have any candidates.”

Related chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know:

Due Process
Prisoners of War, Non-repatriation of
Terrorism

Related Links

Secretary Rumsfeld Remarks at National Press Club Luncheon
September 10, 2003