A federal judge has dismissed the cases of seven Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought to challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention.
"To the extent that these non-resident detainees have rights, they are subject to both the military review process already in place and the laws Congress has passed defining the appropriate scope of military conduct towards the detainees," US District Judge Richard Leon said.
"The extent to which these rights and conditions should be modified or extended is a matter for the political branches to determine," he wrote in the 34-page opinion.
Until the Congress or US President George W. Bush acts further, he concluded there is "no viable legal theory" under which a federal court could issue the writ of habeas corpus sought by the detainees.
The kudge said foreign nationals captured and detained outside the United States have no recognisable constitutional rights.
About 550 people are being held at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba after being detained during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and in other operations in the US "war against terrorism."
Bush administration attorneys have argued the prisoners have no constitutional rights and that their lawsuits, challenging the conditions of their confinement and seeking their release, must be dismissed.
Cases have been brought in federal court in Washington by more than 60 Guantanamo prisoners. The US Supreme Court ruled in June that the prisoners could bring the cases.