#CloseGuantanamo
16 years ago, 3 of my friends were “found” dead in their cages on my cell block, hanging by the neck, hands and feet bound, cloths shoved in down their throats. Their names were Yasser, Mana, and Ali. The #Guantánamo camp admin called them suicides.
رحمهم الله.
16 years ago, 3 of my friends were “found” dead in their cages on my cell block, hanging by the neck, hands and feet bound, cloths shoved in down their throats. Their names were Yasser, Mana, and Ali. The #Guantánamo camp admin called them suicides.
رحمهم الله.
This was 6/9/06 and we were in Camp 1’s Alpha block. Yasser, Mana, and Ali and I had been on hunger strike recently and were known by the camp for protesting our indefinite and arbitrary detention, constant harassment, and #torture.
Yasser was barely 17 when he was sent to #Guantánamo and had been sexually harassed by female guards and interrogators. He’d been told he was going to be released soon. He had the most beautiful singing voice.
Mana was 25 when he was brought to Guantanamo. He’d also been told he was going to be released soon. Ali was also young but had a wife. None of my them ever talked about taking their own lives.
The night they died, Yasser sang to us & we had shared some food through the holes in our cages. We were recovering from a hunger strike that had brought about changes to the camp and were talking about another one. I wrote about that night in my book.
The US Govt. sent their bodies home bodybags, no names just their ISN Numbers. All organs & parts of the neck had been removed so that no autopsies could be performed. No apology. No explanation. Imagine getting your son like this.
No one believed those men committed suicide. How does one bind their own hands behind their back, then hang themselves? We had nothing in our cages. Seton Hall Law has done several reports on the deaths. law.shu.edu/policy-researc…
And Scott Horton wrote about it for @Harpers harpers.org/archive/2010/0…
Everyone has determined that the deaths were suspicious and not suicides. 9 men have died at #Guantánamo, 6 men allegedly by suicide, all were suspicious. And yet the US govt and most media continue to refer to them as suicides and not as murder. There’s no accountability.
37 men are still held at Guantánamo. 21 have been approved for release/transfer. 10 charged in military commissions that legal experts say are fatally flawed. 5 are held indefinitely with no charges. Only 2 men have been convicted crimes. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
It’s time to #CloseGuantánamo. Share this thread. Read my book, DON’T FORGET US HERE, LOST AND FOUND AT GUANTÁNAMO.
hachettebooks.com/titles/mansoor…
AND take action by adding your name to Cage’s action to close #CloseGuantánamo.
closingguantanamotogether.com
hachettebooks.com/titles/mansoor…
AND take action by adding your name to Cage’s action to close #CloseGuantánamo.
closingguantanamotogether.com
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
