News Release

March 21, 2002

Bush's rules for military tribunals fail to address four important issues, says Cato scholar

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld today will release the administration's rules for military tribunals, which may be used to prosecute combatants captured in the anti-terrorism war in Afghanistan. Yesterday, President Bush said of the rules: "The world now will begin to see what we meant by a fair system ... to bring people to justice." Robert A. Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute, had the following comments:

"The new regulations on military tribunals are mostly good news, addressing many of the criticisms leveled by civil libertarians. But the administration has not been responsive in four key areas.

"First, tribunals should be convened only outside of the United States. On U.S. soil, our criminal courts are a perfectly acceptable venue.

"Second, tribunals should be limited to prosecuting unlawful combatants, not merely someone who may be tangentially related to international terrorism.

"Third, tribunals should be congressionally authorized, not unilaterally decreed by the executive branch.

"Finally, verdicts should be appealable to our civilian courts, not only to a military review board.

"As it now stands, the Bush military order shows too little respect for separation of powers, a centerpiece of our Constitution. The executive branch sets the rules, then prosecutes, and then has sole review authority--unchecked power in a single branch of government."