WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have gained a way to challenge the legitimacy of planned trials before U.S. military tribunals following a Supreme Court ruling allowing them to contest their detention, military defense lawyers said on Monday.

The United States has brought criminal charges against three of the six Guantanamo prisoners who President Bush has designated as eligible to be tried before the first U.S. military tribunals of their kind since World War II.

The Supreme Court decided on Monday that the about 595 non-U.S. citizens held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, as terrorism suspects could mount challenges to their detention in U.S. courts. Most have been held for more than two years without charges or access to lawyers.

Military lawyers assigned by the Pentagon to represent defendants in the tribunals welcomed the ruling. They argued that the justices' decision gives prisoners the right to come before U.S. civilian courts not only to seek their freedom but also to attack the legality of the tribunals.

"Essentially what it's done is it's now put the commissions process on trial, and the fairness of it," said military lawyer Army Maj. Mark Bridges, assigned to represent Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul of Yemen, charged in February.

The tribunals, formally called military commissions, have faced criticism from human rights groups who argue the process created by the Pentagon is fundamentally unfair, with the rules rigged to hamstring defense lawyers and produce convictions.

"One of the things that we would certainly want to test in federal court would be the lawfulness of the military commissions themselves, whether the president has authority to establish these commissions or whether Congress's approval is required -- or whether even the president and Congress together can authorize these commissions," Bridges told Reuters.

Bush authorized the tribunals in November 2001, two months after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, named to defend Yemeni prisoner Salim Ahmed Hamdan, in April filed a lawsuit in federal court in Seattle arguing the tribunals represented an unconstitutional expansion of executive branch powers. The case was stayed pending the Supreme Court's ruling.

"I'm gratified to go to Guantanamo Bay to tell Mr. Hamdan that the doors to the court house are open to him. The government had argued they were closed. The Supreme Court unequivocably said they are not," Swift said.

The tribunal process is kept entirely within the Defense Department, which has forbidden any appeals to U.S. civilian courts or existing military courts.

"Certainly some aspects of the commission process can be reviewed by the federal courts," added Marine Corps Maj. Michael Mori, named by the Pentagon to represent Australian David Hicks, who was charged on June 10. "The door is open."

Hicks was charged with three counts, conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy. Al Bahlul and Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi of Sudan were charged on Feb. 24 with a single count each of conspiracy to commit war crimes.

Defense officials said the ruling does nothing to prevent the Pentagon from moving forward with the tribunals. The next step is for the Pentagon to name the panel of U.S. military officers who will hear the cases and set trial dates for proceedings to be held at the Guantanamo base.

The United States has classified the Guantanamo prisoners as "unlawful enemy combatants," denying them POW status.

(Additional reporting by Jane Sutton)

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Commentary:
As stated previously on this website the tribunals represent an abuse of power and an impeachable offense. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution says only Congress can create tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court.

Military lawyers are correct when they tell the Court that Bush abused his power when he created tribunals without the consent of Congress. The Court is still failing us but this ruling is a good beginning.