President

The Combatant Status Review Tribunal the US Department of Defense commissioned, like the tribunals described in Army Regulation 190-8, which they were modeled after, were three member panels, led by a tribunal president. History of the tribunals Initially United States President George W. Bush asserted that captives taken during the "Global War on Terror": Did not qualify for Prisoner of War status, as defined by the Geneva Conventions. Were not entitled to the protection of having a "competent tribunal" convened, where their combatant status would be openly reviewed. This assertion was criticized by many legal scholars. And lawyers who volunteered to represent Guantanamo captives mounted legal challenges in the US Court system. The first legal challenge to be heard before the United States Supreme Court was Rasul v. Bush.