WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States will not seek the death penalty against any of the five Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged this week, including a Canadian teenager accused of tossing a grenade that killed an American medic in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.The charges announced on Monday against Canadian Omar Ahmed Khadr, Saudis Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi and Jabran Said bin al-Qahtani, Algerian Sufyian Barhoumi and Ethiopian Binyam Ahmed Muhammed brought to nine the number of foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, formally accused of crimes."None of the five will be referred as capital cases," said Air Force Maj. Jane Boomer, a Pentagon spokeswoman.The United States also did not seek the death penalty against any of the first four Guantanamo prisoners who were charged.Boomer did not explain the reasoning behind the decision not to seek the death penalty in any of the cases.She said the process involved recommendations from military prosecutors and Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hemingway, legal adviser in the trial process, and a final decision by John Altenburg, a retired Army major general overseeing the trial process.The nine cases are scheduled to be decided by a panel of military officers, called a commission, in the first such U.S. war crimes trials since World War Two.Human rights activists and military defense lawyers have criticized the commission rules, saying they favor prosecutors, allow evidence obtained through torture and hearsay and permit no independent judicial review.The United States holds about 500 prisoners at Guantanamo, with only nine charged. Human rights groups and others have criticized Washington for the indefinite detentions at Guantanamo and denial of legal rights. The United States has defended its treatment of the detainees and has asserted the legal right to hold them "in perpetuity."Murder chargeKhadr, a Canadian citizen who recently turned 19, was 15 when he was sent to Guantanamo. He is charged with murder in the killing of a U.S. soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, with a grenade near Khost, Afghanistan.His lawyers have asserted he has been abused in U.S. custody and that his capture and detention at age 15 violated American responsibilities under accords regarding treatment of young people during war.The other four detainees were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attacks on innocent civilians, destruction of property and terrorism.The charges were announced on Monday just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would decide whether President Bush possessed the power to create the military tribunals to put Guantanamo prisoners on trial for war crimes. The case marks an important test of the Bush administration's policy in the war on terrorism.The four men previously charged were: Australian David Hicks, Yemenis Salim Ahmed Hamdan and Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul, and Sudanese Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi. Those cases have been on hold because of a federal court ruling last year, although the Pentagon moved in September to revive the proceedings in the Hicks case and scheduled a hearing for November 18.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.