American detainees at Guantanamo Bay

The United States Department of Defense acknowledges holding 99 American citizens captured in Afghanistan, during the "war on terror", and one of them was held, for a time, in Guantanamo.^[1] Guantanamo was only supposed to be used to detain non-Americans. But although Yasser Hamdi was born in the US, he was raised in Saudi Arabia, and Joint Task Force Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts didn't realize he was an American. He was eventually repatriated to Saudi Arabia, provided he agreed to renounce his US citizenship.

John Walker Lindh, "the American Taliban," was recognized as an American citizen right away.^[2] He spent a couple of months in CIA and military custody, but was never held in Guantanamo. He was transferred to the US court system only months after his capture, and received a twenty-year sentence.

Jose Padilla was held without charge, for several years, in the consolidated naval brig in North Carolina. He too was never held in Guantanamo.

References

1. OARDEC (May 15, 2006). "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2001 through September 15, 2006" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
2. Josh Tyrangiel (December 9, 2001). "The Taliban Next Door". Time magazine. Retrieved 2008-05-26.