WASHINGTON, 20 January 2007 — The Pentagon unveiled new guidelines for trials of “war on terror” detainees that will allow hearsay and coerced information to be introduced as evidence if a judge considers it credible.

The rule handbook, presented to Congress on Thursday, will apply to the special tribunals at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba set up to try the “enemy combatants” being held at the site.

Defense attorneys will be able to see summaries of classified evidence against their clients, but the rules forbid the lawyers from revealing potentially favorable classified evidence until US government officials have a chance to review it.

If a suspect is found guilty he could be executed by orders of the US president, though it would be up to the secretary of defense to determine how to carry that out.

The goal “has been to design a system that meets our responsibility under (the Geneva Conventions) and that provides a fair trial,” said Brig. Gen. Thomas Hemmingway, the Pentagon’s legal adviser to the process.

The Pentagon’s completion of the hefty 238-page manual outlining procedures for terror trials has revived debate in Congress on the treatment of military detainees.

Democrats said they were concerned that the manual — based on a law passed last year in the then Republican-run Congress — tramples on basic legal rights that should be afforded to military prisoners. This, they say, puts US troops at risk of mistreatment if captured.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said he is working alongside Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin on a bill addressing flaws in the manual “that are impediments to the effective and credible prosecution of suspected terrorists.”

But the Bush administration and GOP members say the tough standards are needed to ensure dangerous terrorists are convicted. “While ensuring the fair and full prosecution of terrorists, the military commissions manual preserves the ability of our war fighters to operate effectively on the battlefield,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

Under the law, the president can convene military commissions to prosecute terror suspects so long as he follows certain guidelines, such as granting defendants legal counsel and access to evidence used against them.

The law also for the first time provided specific definitions of abusive treatment of prisoners, prohibiting some of the worst abuses like mutilation and rape but granting the president leeway to decide which specific interrogation techniques are permissible.

The new regulations lack some protections used in civilian and military courtrooms, such as the prohibition on using coerced or hearsay evidence.

At a Pentagon briefing, Dan Dell’Orto, deputy to the Defense Department’s top counsel, said the new rules will “afford all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people.”

On hearing this, Rep. Ike Skelton, a Democrat and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he planned to scrutinize the manual to ensure that it does not “run afoul” of the US Constitution.

“I have not yet seen evidence that the process by which these rules were built or their substance addresses all the questions left open by the legislation,” Skelton said.

Officials think that with the evidence they have now, they could eventually charge 60 to 80 detainees, said Brig. Gen. Hemmingway. The Defense Department is currently planning trials for at least 10 detainees.

There are almost 400 people suspected of ties to Al-Qaeda and the Taleban being held at the military’s prison in Guantanamo Bay. About 380 others have been released since the facility was opened five years ago.

— With input from agencies