Combatant Status Review Tribunal

“ Purpose A Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT, phonetically “Seecert”) , is a onetime administrative process designed to determine whether each detainee under the control of the Department of Defense at Guantanamo meets the criteria to be designated as an enemy combatant. Each detainee has the opportunity to contest such designation. It is not a criminal trial and is not intended to determine guilt or innocence; rather, it is an administrative process structured under the law of war to confirm the status of enemy combatants detained at Guantanamo as part of the Global War on Terrorism. ”

“ Enemy combatants are not detained as punishment, but to prevent them from returning to the battlefield and engaging in further armed attacks against innocent civilians and U.S. Forces. Detention also serves as a deterrent against future attacks by denying the enemy the fighters needed to conduct war. ”

“ The tribunals draw upon guidance contained in the Supreme Court decision in Hamdi that would apply to U.S. citizen enemy combatants in the United States. The CSRT panels, composed of three neutral commissioned officers, determine whether the preponderance of the evidence supports an enemy combatant determination. Between July 2004 and March 2005, DoD conducted 558 CSRTs at Guantanamo. Based on a review of information known to DoD at that time, 38 detainees were determined to no longer meet the definition of enemy combatant and 520 detainees were found to be enemy combatants. ”