Originally Posted by PershingOfLSU

The prisoners taken during the initial invasion of Afghanistan and serving in the regular Taliban military were lawful combatants and for the most part have been released.

However, many of the people in Guantanamo currently do not fall into that categorization for several reasons. First, they do not bear arms open, follow the rules of war, or wear a distinctive sign. According to the Geneva convention, since they are considered civilians commiting crimes, they can be subjected to any punishment the occupied country had on the books, before the invasion, that is permissable under the Geneva convention. As both Iraq and Afghanistan have very liberal death penaltys, a large number of the detainees could be executed as criminals. A good number could also be executed under the espionage portion of the Geneva convention. I'm not saying they should be of course, I am saying however that the Geneva convention provides for it.