The Guantánamo military commissions process – which allows detainees to be convicted on the basis of secret evidence, hearsay, and confessions derived from torture – is an affront to civil liberties and a stain on America’s reputation around the world. At Guantánamo, the government has been making up the rules as it goes along.  This un-American practice is shocking and unacceptable.

These proceedings are completely inconsistent with the fundamental tenets of American justice and U.S. treaty obligations. They are subject to political influence, and rely on confessions extracted by torture, on hearsay, and on secret evidence that a defendant cannot see or rebut.

The Obama administration’s new Justice Department must conduct a comprehensive review of all detainee records to determine whether there is any actual evidence of criminal activity. Where there is evidence, the federal courts are well positioned to accommodate the government's legitimate national security interests without compromising the fundamental rights of defendants. Where there is not, detainees should be repatriated to their home countries or, if there is a risk of torture or abuse, transferred to countries that will accept them.

These cases belong in a court that upholds due process and in which judges and attorneys are held to constitutional obligations and accountable to the rule of law. The time-tested U.S. civilian courts are equipped to handle complex national security cases. The United States has successfully prosecuted scores of terrorism suspects, both before and after September 11.