NEW YORK, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- The issue of trials for terror suspects pits the Bush administration against U.S. civil liberty advocates, a report says.
Under the Bush proposal, the trials would not resemble civilian trials or courts-martial held in the United States, The New York Times writes in an analysis.
Hearsay and coerced evidence could be admitted. And suspects could be denied access to classified evidence, although it would be disclosed to their military defense lawyers.
Civil libertarians insist suspected terrorists cannot receive fair trials unless they are given the protections of an ordinary court-martial -- including the right to exclude hearsay and coerced evidence and the right to see evidence against them, the Times said.
Many people want the military commissions to meet the standard of the Nuremberg trials of officials involved in the Holocaust during the Nazi regime, which generally did not allow secret evidence and closed proceedings, the Times reported.
Congress should have the last word, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the existing form of tribunals violates federal law.
