US President Barack Obama has ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp as well as all overseas CIA detention centres for terror suspects.
Signing the orders, Mr Obama said the US would continue to fight terror, but maintain "our values and our ideals".
He also ordered a review of military trials for terror suspects and a ban on harsh interrogation methods.
Continuing a flurry of announcements, he named his envoys to the Middle East, and to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At Mr Obama's request, military judges have suspended several of the trials of suspects at Guantanamo so that the legal process can be reviewed.
'Ongoing struggle'
Mr Obama signed the three executive orders on Thursday, further distancing his new administration from the policies of his predecessor, George W Bush.
He said the Guantanamo prison "will be closed no later than one year from now."
The US would continue to fight terror, he said, but maintain American values while doing so.
Secret CIA "black site" prisons around the world are also to be closed, although the time frame for this is unclear.
The rendition - or transfer - of terror suspects to these prisons was widely criticised after they came to light in the wake of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Mr Obama has also limited the methods investigators can use to question terrorism suspects.
Threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding are now all banned.
BBC
Signing the orders, Mr Obama said the US would continue to fight terror, but maintain "our values and our ideals".
He also ordered a review of military trials for terror suspects and a ban on harsh interrogation methods.
Continuing a flurry of announcements, he named his envoys to the Middle East, and to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At Mr Obama's request, military judges have suspended several of the trials of suspects at Guantanamo so that the legal process can be reviewed.
'Ongoing struggle'
Mr Obama signed the three executive orders on Thursday, further distancing his new administration from the policies of his predecessor, George W Bush.
He said the Guantanamo prison "will be closed no later than one year from now."
The US would continue to fight terror, he said, but maintain American values while doing so.
Secret CIA "black site" prisons around the world are also to be closed, although the time frame for this is unclear.
The rendition - or transfer - of terror suspects to these prisons was widely criticised after they came to light in the wake of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Mr Obama has also limited the methods investigators can use to question terrorism suspects.
Threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding are now all banned.
BBC