By Julian E. Barnes , Tribune Washington Bureau|May 15, 2009
WASHINGTON - — WASHINGTON - - The Obama administration will announce plans Friday to revive the Bush-era military commission system for prosecuting accused terrorists, current and former officials said, reversing a presidential campaign pledge to rely instead on federal courts and the traditional military justice system.
Word of the imminent decision infuriated human rights groups, who argued that any trials under the system created by former President George W. Bush would be widely viewed as tainted and said the Obama administration was duplicating the mistakes of former administration.
The announcement follows other moves by President Barack Obama that have disappointed the administration's liberal allies but heartened supporters of Bush, including the decision to withhold photos of abused detainees and to retain the option of using a limited form of rendition, the practice of turning terrorism suspects over to other countries for questioning.
White House officials insisted that Obama was not overturning a campaign vow. The president "never promised to abolish" military commissions, an administration official said. However, during his campaign Obama repeatedly called for change.
"It's time to better protect the American people and our values by bringing swift and sure justice to terrorists through our courts and our Uniform Code of Military Justice," Obama said in one such statement on the subject last August.
The administration still intends to prosecute some Guantanamo Bay detainees in federal courts, as Obama had pledged. But officials have concluded that a small number of detainees can be tried only in the military commissions, said a U.S. official familiar with the changes, speaking on condition of anonymity in advance of Friday's announcement.
The administration on Friday also will outline major changes to the military commission system that will be used in future trials.
Gabor Rona, the international legal director of Human Rights First, said military commission trials are unlikely to be seen as legitimate forms of justice.
"Everyone knows the military commissions have been a dismal failure," said Rona. "The results of the cases will be suspect around the world."
But Charles Stimson, a former Bush administration official who oversaw detainee affairs at the Pentagon, applauded Obama's proposal as one that would bring needed change to the military commission system while keeping it intact.
