The U.S. confirmed today that it is building a hard-walled prison at Guantamo, designed for long-term use.

Col. Jerry Cannon, who is in charge of the prison facility, said in a recent interview here that he was revising some of the security procedures at the camp with the expectation that it would continue to hold prisoners for some years.

The hard-walled prison will be ready next spring, said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, the public affairs officer for the Joint Task Force that administers the detention camp and supervises prisoner interrogations. "This will be a permanent structure and will be able to house approximately 100 prisoners," Colonel Hart said.

Col. Hart says there's no plan for a death row in the new facility. So what's behind this?

None of the detainees sentenced to prison terms or execution could be taken into the United States to serve their sentences because upon arrival, they would immediately gain new rights and avenues to challenge their detentions. Officials chose Guantánamo as a location where United States constitutional protections would not apply, and two federal courts have agreed that the naval base here is not legally part of the United States.