To justify flouting the Geneva Conventions (1949) protecting prisoners of war, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzáles said that classifying al Qaeda POWs as unlawful combatants "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act of 1996".
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claimed that classifying al Qaeda prisoners of war as unlawful combatants would lessen the likelihood of facing domestic criminal charges under the War Crimes Act of 1996, justifying their disregard for the Geneva Conventions (1949).