Donald Rumsfeld

 Secretary Rumsfeld says special military commissions will try senior members of al-Qaida and the Taleban, but no one has yet been selected for such a trial. 

Some prisoners will be held for an indefinite period, Mr. Rumsfeld says, but most of the hundreds of prisoners the United States now is holding in Cuba will either be released or sent to their home countries for trial.

 Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon Thursday, Mr. Rumsfeld said the special military tribunals will have the power to condemn prisoners to death, but only after a unanimous vote by a seven-member court. 

All defendants will be presumed innocent, the defense secretary says, and prosecutors will be required to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the same rule that is followed in U.S. civilian courts.

 The military will provide defense attorneys free of charge, but prisoners also may hire their own civilian counsel. In a departure from normal procedure in a civilian court, Mr. Rumsfeld says a military commission can hand down a guilty verdict based on a two-thirds vote; a unanimous vote is not necessary.

 The Pentagon chief says defendants may have access to all evidence used against them, with the exception of classified information. 

Human-rights groups and some U.S. lawmakers who have challenged the plan for military trials say such tribunals almost always find defendants guilty. Critics also object to the plan to hold prisoners indefinitely, without specific charges
 
 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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