ABSTRACT
The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan on 7 October 2001 citing their inherent right to self-defence as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter and supported by Resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001). 2 In November 2001, President Bush signed a Military Order creating a framework for military commissions that could try those being detained within Afghanistan and on the borders of Pakistan for ‘reasons related to the conflict’ (Duffy 2005: 379; Leitzau 2005: 49). In January 2002, hundreds of people – estimates ranged from 550 to 698 detainees – had been detained and forcibly removed from Afghanistan to the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay (Duffy 2005: 379; Steyn 2004: 7). 3
