Presidential Military Order Applied to Nine more Combatants
July 07, 2004

The DoD announced today that the President determined that nine more enemy combatants currently detained by the United States are subject to his military order of Nov. 13, 2001. Todays action makes these individuals eligible for trial by military commissions. The President determined that there is reason to believe that each of these enemy combatants was a member of al Qaida or was otherwise involved in terrorism directed against the United States.

Military commissions have historically been used to try violations of the law of armed conflict and related offenses. Offenses that may be charged include those listed in the Crimes and Elements for Trials by Military Commission (Department of Defense Military Commission Instruction No. 2).

Many considerations are used in selecting cases relevant factors include: the quality of evidence; the completeness of intelligence gathering and; our desire to bring closure to individual cases. There is evidence that the individuals designated by the President may have attended terrorist training camps and may have been involved in such activities as: financing al-Qaida, building explosives, planning or facilitating maritime operations, and providing protection for Usama bin Laden.

The Department of Defense is prepared to conduct full and fair trials if and when the appointing authority approves charges on an individual subject to the Presidents military order.

Since no charges against any of these nine detainees have been approved, their names will not be released at this time.

This brings to 15 the number of detainees that the President has determined are subject to his military order. Six previous detainees were determined subject to the military order on July 3, 2003.