The tribunals so far have ruled on the cases of seven people who were taken prisoner, releasing two of them and formally declaring four others as prisoners of war, said Major Ted Wadsworth.

The seventh prisoner whose case was heard by a military tribunal was determined to be either a doctor or a chaplain and returned to provide services to the prisoner population, he said.

"Our first priority is we don't want to hold anyone longer than we have to," said Wadsworth.

He said 925 other people had previously been found to be non combatants and released although not by military tribunals he said.

Prisoners whose status has not been determined will be treated as prisoners of war until a tribunal decides otherwise, Wadsworth said.

SPACE.WIRE