Military lawyers have argued that Guantanamo detainees should not get prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Conventions because they are not fighting for a state but al-Qaeda.
"That argument is rejected," the judge said.
Hamdan has appeared before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal at Guantanamo, which ruled that he was an "enemy combatant". But the judge said the review tribunals were not valid because they were not established to assess a detainee's rights under the Geneva Conventions.
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