July 11 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration said all military detainees will be treated in compliance with the Geneva Conventions, including accused al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters held in the U.S. war on terrorism.

The U.S. will assure that military tribunals set up to try terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison comply with the conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war, Undersecretary of Defense Gordon England said in a July 7 memo made public today by the Defense Department.

``I request that you promptly review all relevant directives, regulations, policies, practices and procedures under your purview to ensure that they comply with'' Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, England said in the memo. The article entitles prisoners to humane treatment and requires sentences be imposed only ``by a regularly constituted court.''

The administration's apparent policy shift is a response to a Supreme Court ruling last month that President George W. Bush lacks Congressional authority to try Guantanamo Bay inmates before military tribunals. Several European allies of the U.S. have urged Bush to shut down the Guantanamo prison.

U.S. officials had previously argued that they weren't legally bound to treat accused al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban militants under the Geneva Conventions because such prisoners aren't citizens of nations that accepted the pact. The administration has said that its detainee treatment policies already comply with the spirit of the conventions, a set of treaties that establish international-law standards in wartime.

High Court Ruling

The high court said the tribunals violate U.S military law, which affords such protections as the right to be present at trial and to call witnesses, and most of Article 3, which the court said may give detainees the same rights as U.S. citizens facing military prosecution.

Bush has said he would comply with the decision and ask Congress to give an explicit authorization for tribunals, a possibility left open by the court's ruling. The procedures apply to about 450 detainees at Guantanamo Bay and another 550 held in Afghanistan.

Administration officials said today that England's memo on the Geneva Conventions doesn't represent a policy reversal.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said that ``humane treatment has always been the standard, and that is something that they followed at Guantanamo.''

Full Protection

The Supreme Court ``did not say that the full protections of the Geneva Commission applied to al-Qaeda and the Taliban,'' Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. ``What it did was talk about Common Article 3, which at its essence is about humane treatment, which has always been the policy.''

The Pentagon memo requires commanders to review and report back ``that they are complying'' with the Geneva Conventions, Whitman said.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in a January 2002 memo when he was White House counsel, advised Bush to declare the war in Afghanistan, and the detention of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, not subject to the conventions.

Defense and Justice department officials testifying today before a Senate panel defended the military commissions that Bush ordered after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Daniel J. Dell'Orto, the Pentagon's principal deputy general counsel, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the military tribunals are the best means available to try such suspects.

Dell'Orto also said the Supreme Court ruling doesn't require any redesign of the commissions, which give suspects a right to counsel when tried before a three-judge panel.

``The expeditious way to do it would be to essentially ratify the process already in place,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff St.Onge in Washington at jstonge@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 11, 2006 15:36 EDT