Eine sehr kurze Kurzfassung: Salim Hamdan wurde 2001 in Afghanistan gefangengenommen. 2002 wurde er nach Guantánamo gebracht. 2004 wurde erstmals Anklage gegen ihn erhoben. 2006 hat der Oberste Gerichtshof entschieden, dass die Militärkommission, vor der Hamdan der Prozess gemacht werden sollte, rechtswidrig ist. Noch im selben Jahr wurde vom Kongress ein Gesetz beschlossen, um die rechtskonforme Einrichtung von Militärkommissionen in diesem und anderen Fällen zu ermöglichen. 2007 wurde er erneut angeklagt. Im selben Jahr wurde die Anklage fallengelassen, weil Hamdan nur ein enemy combattant sei, nicht jedoch ein unlawful enemy combattant. Noch im selben Jahr wurde Hamdan zu einem illegal enemy combattant erklärt. Während des Prozesses wurde Beweismaterial als unzulässig abgelehnt, weil es durch Folter erlangt worden war. Am 7. August 2008 wurde Hamdan von der Militärkommission zu 66 Monaten Haft verurteilt. Er (der ehemalige Fahrer von Osama bin Laden) ist jetzt ein verurteilter Kriegsverbrecher. Nachdem ihm von seiner bisherigen Haftzeit 61 Monate angerechnet werden, wird er seine Strafe in 5 Monaten verbüsst haben. Danach wird er wieder als enemy combattant eingestuft und weiter inhaftiert werden. Über sein weiteres Schicksal wird eine Kommission entscheiden.

After the sentencing, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said: "He will serve out the rest of his sentence. At that time he will still be considered an enemy combatant.

"But he will be eligible for review by an Administrative Review Board."

The boards decide annually on the threat posed by detainees and the possibility of their transfer or release.

[Bin Laden driver given 66 months, BBC NEWS]

Es war in diesem Zusammenhang die Rede davon, dass Guantánamo geschlossen werden wird. Das macht aber inzwischen keinen Unterschied mehr, denn Guantánamo ist nicht nur ein winziger Teil eines riesigen weltumspannenden Netzes an Geheimgefängnissen:

The United States is operating "floating prisons" to house those arrested in its war on terror, according to human rights lawyers, who claim there has been an attempt to conceal the numbers and whereabouts of detainees.

Details of ships where detainees have been held and sites allegedly being used in countries across the world have been compiled as the debate over detention without trial intensifies on both sides of the Atlantic. The US government was yesterday urged to list the names and whereabouts of all those detained.

Information about the operation of prison ships has emerged through a number of sources, including statements from the US military, the Council of Europe and related parliamentary bodies, and the testimonies of prisoners.

[...]

Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve's legal director, said: "They choose ships to try to keep their misconduct as far as possible from the prying eyes of the media and lawyers. We will eventually reunite these ghost prisoners with their legal rights.

"By its own admission, the US government is currently detaining at least 26,000 people without trial in secret prisons, and information suggests up to 80,000 have been 'through the system' since 2001. The US government must show a commitment to rights and basic humanity by immediately revealing who these people are, where they are, and what has been done to them."

[...]

In addition, numerous prisoners have been "extraordinarily rendered" to US allies and are alleged to have been tortured in secret prisons in countries such as Syria, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt.

[Duncan Campbell, Richard Norton-Taylor, [Macro error in lin: Macro lin not allowed in sandbox] , The Guardian, 2. Juni 2008]

President George Bush admitted in September 2006 that the CIA operated a secret network of "black sites" in which terrorist suspects were held and subjected to what he called "enhanced interrogation techniques", a term described by the Council of Europe as "essentially a euphemism for some kind of torture".

The CIA is also believed to have run prisons in countries in almost every continent, including Thailand, Afghanistan (at Bagram, near the military airport, north of Kabul), Poland, Romania, and Djibouti, the former French colony at the southern end of the Red Sea, as well as at Guantánamo Bay.

It may also have secretly imprisoned suspects in the British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia, despite UK government denials. In addition, prisoners have been subjected to "extraordinary rendition" - secretly transported to destinations where they risked being tortured. There is evidence a number were tortured.

Prisoners seized by the US in the west as well as Afghanistan and elsewhere have been flown to prisons in Syria, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt.

According to a US Congress report, up to 14,000 people may have been victims of rendition and secret detention since 2001. Some reports estimate there have been twice as many. The US admits to have captured more than 80,000 prisoners in its "war on terror".

The human rights group, Reprieve, points to a statement by Bush on September 6 2006 that "the secret prisons are now empty". Reprieve says this is not the case.

[Duncan Campbell, Richard Norton-Taylor, Prison ships, torture claims, and missing detainees, The Guardian, 2. Juni 2008]

Zusammenfassung: Guantánamo kann geschlossen werden, aber Folter und Verschleppung werden weitergehen. Und zwar in einem Ausmaß, das um ein vielfaches größer ist, als man sich allgemein vorstellt. Besonders zu erwähnen wäre auch das hier:

Reprieve will raise particular concerns over the activities of the USS Ashland and the time it spent off Somalia in early 2007 conducting maritime security operations in an effort to capture al-Qaida terrorists.

At this time many people were abducted by Somali, Kenyan and Ethiopian forces in a systematic operation involving regular interrogations by individuals believed to be members of the FBI and CIA. Ultimately more than 100 individuals were "disappeared" to prisons in locations including Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Guantánamo Bay.

Man erinnert sich: Ende 2006 ist Äthiopien in Somalia einmarschiert, wollte nur ein paar Wochen bleiben, und ist immer noch dort. Mittlerweile gibt es mindestens 1 Million Flüchtlinge. [Somalia fighting prompts warning, BBC NEWS] Die USA waren, wie man aus dem oben Zitierten schließen kann, von Anfang an aktiv an den Kampfhandlungen beteiligt und sind es noch. [US confirms Somali missile strike, BBC NEWS] Dies geschieht im Rahmen der Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa (es gibt weiters neben Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan auch Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines und Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara)