Rumsfeld: No rush to try terror suspects

[stickdog]

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/11/military.trials.ap/

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says most suspected terrorists at a U.S. prison camp in Cuba will probably be detained for the course of the global war on terrorism rather than face trial.

That sparked criticism from lawyers who said U.S. legal tradition insists on a transparent and open judicial process.

Rumsfeld said Wednesday he expects some trials but prefers that most continue to be held at the Guantanamo Bay facility. "Our interest is in not trying them and letting them out," he said. "Our interest is in -- during this global war on terror -- keeping them off the streets, and so that's what's taking place."

Erwin Chemerinsky, law professor at University of Southern California, said there is no authority in American or international law to hold these people indefinitely with no judicial process. "It's outrageous," Chemerinsky said. "There are no signs that the war on terrorism is nearing an end, so the government is saying it can hold people indefinitely and likely for the rest of their lives without complying with the requirements of international law."