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Ex Guantanamo detainee says he still believes in justice
Updated 18:01, 25-May-2022
Zhao Junzhu

For over 10 years, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, 51, was painted as one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world.

Published in 2015, his memoir "Guantanamo Diary," an elaborate account of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, has been a best-seller in many countries. It is more than a story of how an innocent person was tortured almost to death – it reveals how a compassionate, optimistic and intellectually rich man got through his darkest moment.

Recently, Slahi recalled his horrendous ordeal in the dark prison in an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG). 

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14 years behind bars

Soon after 9/11 attacks, a call from Slahi's cousin Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, a friend of Osama bin Laden's son, got him arrested in his motherland Mauritania in West Africa and transported to Guantanamo.

A shackled Guantanamo detainee reads his materials as he attends a class in "Life Skills" inside Camp 6 high-security detention facility at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, March 30, 2010. /CFP

A shackled Guantanamo detainee reads his materials as he attends a class in "Life Skills" inside Camp 6 high-security detention facility at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, March 30, 2010. /CFP

"Even if they are friends, my cousin didn't do anything with him. Even if he did, that's not my problem," Slahi told CMG.

In 2005, while still in detention, he began writing his memoir in English, a language he learned by reading popular books and conversing with his guards and interrogators in prison.

"I wouldn't know the sweetness of sleeping. Interrogation for 24 hours, three and sometimes four shifts a day," he wrote. "I rarely got a day off."

Almost a decade and a half later, Slahi was released without being charged and sent back to Mauritania.

Believing in justice

In April, Slahi sued the Canadian government for CA$35 million (about $27 million), claiming that Canada provided false information concerning the period when he was in Montreal in 1999 and that its active "allegiance" to the U.S. had led to his 14 years in jail.

He told CMG that he believes justice will prevail irrespective of the outcome of his lawsuit.

For detainees, getting back to life after Guantanamo Bay is not easy. "Once you put them outside the rule of law, bringing them into the rule of law is much tricker than you think," said Dan Fried, former special envoy responsible for transferring detainees at Guantanamo.

Now rebuilding a new life in the Netherlands as a writer, Slahi hopes to travel the world. But freedom doesn't come easy as he is often questioned or even detained at airports given that he is still on a U.S. blacklist.

A detainee is led by military police to be interrogated by military personnel at Camp X-Ray at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, February 2, 2002. /CFP

A detainee is led by military police to be interrogated by military personnel at Camp X-Ray at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, February 2, 2002. /CFP

Despite his popularity as a writer in the UK, the British government denies him visa.

"Although they are against human rights violation and against Guantanamo Bay, the UK government still thinks the victims of Guantanamo deserve punishment and are not allowed to visit their country," Slahi said in an interview with Good Morning Britain in 2021.

A symbol of American abuse

Since the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush launched the war on terror and started transferring terrorism suspects to Guantanamo Bay, the prison has been considered a symbol of human rights violation. 

As a military prison established outside the American legal system, most of the detainees there are "petty criminals" or "people just a little more involved in al-Qaeda or Taliban," said Fried.

The U.S. accuses other countries of not respecting human rights when it itself is involved in violations, Slahi said. "Once you're an ally of the United States, you can do whatever you want."

"The U.S. Constitution provides that all citizens of the United States and all non-citizens who come to our shores, legally or illegally, or who are accused of violating the long arm of our anti-terrorism statutes abroad, will be safe here from arbitrary treatment," Nancy Hollander, Slahi's defense lawyer wrote in her op-ed on the New York Times. 

"Sadly, some of the clients accused of terrorism that I and other criminal defense lawyers have sworn an oath to protect and defend have not been safe in the custody of the United States. They have been locked away for years alone and without recourse, and they have suffered from abuse or even torture," she wrote. 

A detainee from Afghanistan is carried on a stretcher before being interrogated by military officials at Camp X-Ray at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, February 2, 2002./ CFP

A detainee from Afghanistan is carried on a stretcher before being interrogated by military officials at Camp X-Ray at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, February 2, 2002./ CFP

Described as "a terrorist propaganda tool" and "a recruitment tool for terrorist" by former U.S. President Barack Obama, Guantanamo is regarded as a bipartisan project, carried out by both Republicans and Democrats.

In total, 780 men, all Muslim, have been prisoned at Guantanamo since opening after the 9/11 attacks, according to the Washington Post. 

"President Bush opened it. President Obama promised to close it but failed to do so. President Trump promised to keep it open. It is now your turn to shape your legacy with regards to Guantanamo," according to an open letter to U.S. President Joe Biden by seven former detainees.

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