JURIST - Paper Chase: Lawyers say most Guantanamo detainees not alleged to be terrorists

[JURIST] Lawyers for two detainees being held at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] say that over half of the terror suspects being held there are not alleged to have committed terrorist acts against the US or its allies or even to be members of terrorist organizations. Their findings appear in a report [PDF text] released Tuesday based on declassified US Department of Defense evaluations [DOD materials] of the more than 500 Guantanamo detainees undertaken as part of a 2004 DOD study to determine if detainees were being properly held as enemy combatants.

The lawyers say that according to the data, 8 percent of detainees are designated terrorist fighters, while another 30 percent are considered members of a terrorist group such as al Qaeda or the Taliban. Sixty 60 percent were simply "associated with" terrorists. Currently only 10 Guantanamo detainees have been formally charged with crimes and will face military tribunals. The Pentagon had no comment on the report. AP has more.

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