The Mauritanian Mohamedou Ould Slahi and the yemeni Mansoor Adayfi They spent 14 years in Guantánamo and were eventually released without charge. They left prison, but in a way they are still inside: “We have scars on our souls,” says the second.
“You do everything you can to build a life for yourself, but there is really no support to help you integrate into society. And that’s a big problem. Imagine being imprisoned for 10 or 15 years, getting out and being sent to a place where you don’t know what to do,” he explains to EFE in a Zoom interview.
He was sent to Serbia in 2016 when he was cleared for release. He was arrested in Afghanistan in November 2001, two months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.and transferred in February 2002 to the prison that the United States opened at its Naval Base in Cuban territory.
The first prisoners of the “war on terror” that former Republican President George W. Bush (2001-2009) undertook after those attacks that left almost 3,000 dead arrived there a month before him and Camp X-Ray where they put that group in open-air cages it still stands, empty and abandoned.
Adayfi, considered by the US to be a member of Al Qaeda and a high-value prisoner, was initially in that camp. He still remember living 24 hours waiting for “the next torture”with a constant fear that Ould Slahi also experienced.
“At first I didn’t think that in a democracy you could be tortured, especially if you hadn’t done anything. When they started the torture program I stopped being myself. In a way, it became a routine for me,” the second former hostage, author of “Guantánamo Diary” and whose story inspired the film “The Mauritanian,” by Kevin Macdonald, told EFE.
Ould Slahi, who arrived at Guantánamo in August 2002, says he has already freed himself from the “hate” he experienced during the first years after his release in 2016. “It was something sick. And you can only be free through forgiveness. “I decided to forgive everyone.”
Those who are still prisoners
There are still 30 of the 780 prisoners in Guantanamo, three of whom, the so-called “eternal prisoners,” have not been charged nor are they eligible for transfer.
“I’m not surprised it’s still open, considering it was created outside the law., of justice and of all humanity. We want justice and closure. There must be reparation, compensation and accountability,” maintains Adayfi.
He is no longer in Guantánamo, but he is in a “Guantánamo 2.0”: “I don’t think I have recovered. Some of us have post-traumatic disorder, physical and psychological problems that have not been cured. “We have scars on our souls.”
Of the 30 remaining prisoners, five are awaiting trial for the 9/11 attack, including Khalid Sheikh Mohamedthe self-proclaimed “mastermind” of that attack against the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and Flight 93.
That last plane was scheduled to arrive at the Capitol, a symbol of American democracy, but it ended up crashing in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after some passengers intervened to prevent it.
permanent pain
The case is still pending trial and has already held 48 previous hearings. The last one, which began this week and will continue throughout next week, was attended as on other occasions by relatives of the victims, such as Gordon Felt, whose brother died on that flight at the age of 41.
“Families live with the loss of our loved ones. We can never get over it. We carry that pain in our hearts,” Felt, who attended one of those sessions for the first time in 2018, told EFE.
Seeing the accused in person at the so-called Guantánamo Justice Camp, from the room set up behind glass for the press, NGOs and family members to follow the session, does not provide relief because there is none, he maintains.
“I will always have that pain. I seek justice and accountability for his actions. I want them to have a fair trial and a vigorous defense. I anticipate that with the amount of evidence against them they will be convicted. and I I will be satisfied when they receive the death penalty and are executed“.
Keep reading:
– Biden rejects proposed conditions for a plea deal for 9/11 defendants.
– The “eternal prisoner” of Guantanamo illustrates CIA torture in drawings.