The Kandahar Five is a term used to refer to five men who had been held, for years, in a Taliban prison in Kandahar

Kandahar

Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, only to end up in extrajudicial detention

Extrajudicial detention

Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

Several of the men were interviewed by international reporters during a brief period of partial freedom when they were held in a refugee camp following the takeover of the prison by Northern Alliance forces. They men say they ended up being traded to the Americans in return for a bounty.

According to the Associated Press Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 Jeffrey Gordon

Jeffrey D. Gordon

Jeffrey D. Gordon is a communications consultant to several conservative Washington, DC-based think tanks. Gordon is also a contributing columnist to Fox News, AOL News, the Washington Times and other media outlets. Previously, he was a Commander in the United States Navy.-Naval career:He was...

, a Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 spokesman defended the men's continued detention:

Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak Janko Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak Janko A Syrian-Kurd, Abd Al-Rahim Abdul Rassak al-Janko was a student in the United Arab Emirates who traveled to Afghanistan in 2000, where he was captured by the Taliban who announced that he had confessed to plotting to murder Osama bin Laden, as well as spying against the Taliban on behalf of Israel...	Imprisoned by the Taliban when he was denounced by Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim Arkan Mohammad Ghafil Al Karim is a citizen of Iraq who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.Al Karim's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 653.... , after Al Karim's capture and interrogation.
Jamal Udeen Al-Harith Jamal Udeen Al-Harith Jamal Udeen Al-Harith is a British citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention as a suspected terrorist in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba for two and a half years.Al-Harith's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 490....	Claims he paid a driver to take him from Pakistan to Iran, without realizing that his driver would take a shortcut that would take him through Afghanistan, where the Taliban seized him as an American spy, based on his British passport. Went directly from custody in a Taliban jail to US custody.
Sadik Ahmad Turkistani	Turkistani was imprisoned by the Taliban for four and a half years, because he was alleged to have been involved in a plot to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets... . Turkistani admits being opposed to the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, but he denies that he was involved in any plots.
Airat Vakhitov	Fled Russia for Tajikistan Tajikistan Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east.... , in 1999, to avoid harassment by the Russian authorities; was forced by members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a militant Islamist group formed in 1991 by the Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev, and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani—both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley... , to travel to Afghanistan Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... ; when he was thrown into prison because the Taliban suspected he was a Russian spy.
Abdul Hakim Bukhary Abdul Hakim Bukhary -Transcript:Bukhary chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.Bukhary chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.-Abdul Bukhary and other former Taliban prisoners:...	According to the BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...  Bukhary had been jailed by the Taliban for expressing approval of Ahmad Shah Massoud, a Northern Alliance leader assassinated on September 9, 2001.