Groups decry Obama's commission decision

WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Two civil and human rights organizations Friday criticized U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to use military commission trials for suspected terrorists.

"These military commissions are inherently illegitimate, unconstitutional and incapable of delivering outcomes we can trust," Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Tweaking the rules of these failed tribunals so that they provide 'more due process' is absurd; there is no such thing as 'due process light.'"

Obama said the military commissions would be changed to include more legal safeguards for defendants, including prohibiting statements obtained through harsh interrogation tactics.

Larry Cox, Amnesty International's executive director, said in a statement that Obama turned away from a campaign promise to reform the way the country combats terrorism.

"In one swift move, Obama both backtracks on a major campaign promise to change the way the United States fights terrorism and undermines the nation's core respect for the rule of law by sacrificing due process for political expediency," Cox said.

Whatever changes the administration makes to the military commissions don't "change the fact that the commissions do not provide an adequate standard of justice for the detainees nor the victims of terrorism," Cox said, "they merely mock the U.S. Constitution, international laws and undermine fundamental human rights standards."