There is some reason to fear that, despite the Bush administration's assurances, they won't be. As Michael J. Kelly of Creighton University explained to the New York Times last month, Bush's recent order creating the military tribunals directly contradicts provisions of Geneva Conventions. It reserves final judgment on the verdict for the American president. It denies the defendants the right to an appeal. It prevents them from choosing their own lawyers. And it allows the death penalty to be imposed without a unanimous jury. All these provisions violate the 1949 conventions.