President Bush said he would like to close the US-run prison at Guantanamo Bay but was awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on how suspects held there might be tried.
"Of course Guantanamo is a delicate issue for people. I would like to close the camp and put the prisoners on trial," Mr Bush said in comments to German television broadcast last night. The interview was recorded last week.
Human-rights groups have accused the United States of mistreating Guantanamo detainees through cruel interrogation methods, a charge denied by the US government.
They also criticise the indefinite detention of suspects captured since the military prison was opened in 2002 at the US naval base in Cuba, as part of the Mr Bush administration's "war on terrorism".
Mr Bush was asked by the German public television station ARD how the United States could restore its human-rights image following reports of prisoner abuse.
"Our top court must still rule on whether they should go before a civil or military court," he said. "They will get their day in court. One can't say that of the people that they killed. They didn't give these people the opportunity for a fair trial."