New Rules: President Obama announced that the Guantanamo military tribunals will be reconstituted to try less than 20 detainees. He further announced that they would be operating under new rules, including the following:

• Restrictions on hearsay evidence that can be used in court against the detainees.
• A ban on all evidence obtained through cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This would include statements given from detainees who were subjected to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning.
• Giving detainees greater leeway in choosing their own military counsel
• Protecting detainees who refuse to testify from legal sanctions or other court prejudices.(AP)

The sad commentary is that these fundamental rules were ever suspended in an American legal system.