Guantánamo Diary Book Summary - Guantánamo Diary Book explained in key points

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Guantánamo Diary summary

Name: Guantánamo Diary
Rating: 4.5 (10 reviews)
Author: Mohamedou Ould Slahi, edited by Larry Siems

Mohamedou Ould Slahi, edited by Larry Siems

Guantanamo from the Inside

4.5 (10 ratings)

19 mins

Topics

Autobiographies Crises & Scandals

Table of Contents

Guantánamo Diary
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? One inmate’s extraordinary account of his incarceration in the world’s most notorious prison camp.

In 2005, Mohamedou Ould Slahi (MOS), an inmate at Guantánamo Bay, began compiling a detailed account of how he ended up in US custody. Stretching back to his first round of questioning in early 2000, the document described his arrest and interrogation in various countries, including Senegal, Jordan and, of course, Cuba, at the US naval base on the island's southeastern tip.

Although he has never been tried and continues to maintain his total innocence, he remains in prison, over a decade after his initial arrest.

This document, heavily edited and redacted by his US captors, has managed to reach the public domain. These blinks, based on his account, tell you his gripping story.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why Mohamed Ould Slahi’s torture was sanctioned by the US government;
why doctors are used to keep prisoners fit for torture; and
why US authorities pretended to be MOS’s family.

The author, a Mauritanian citizen, has been held without charge in Guantánamo since 2002.

You’ve probably heard of Guantánamo Bay, but how much do you know about the actual experiences of the prisoners detained there? One long-term prisoner is Mohamedou Ould Slahi, or MOS for short, and this is the story of how he found himself in one of the world’s most infamous detention centers.

The author was born in 1970 in Mauritania, a country in northwestern Africa. He was the ninth of 12 children born to a traveling camel trader, who passed away shortly after the family moved to the capital of Nouakchott. As a result, the author was his family’s main provider from a young age.

In 1988, he received a scholarship to the University of Duisburg in Germany, and traveled there to study electrical engineering. In 1991, he became involved with the anti-communist movement in Afghanistan and took an oath of loyalty to al-Qaeda, an organization that at the time was supported by Western nations, and the US in particular.

But things changed when the communist government collapsed and the Afghan mujahideen began to wage war against one another. At this point, the author returned to Germany and, according to his account, cut all ties with al-Qaeda.

He then completed his degree, remaining in Duisburg with his wife. But since his German visa was set to expire shortly thereafter, he applied, successfully, for a Canadian visa, relocating to Montreal in November 1999. While in Canada, he attended a Mosque previously frequented by an Algerian immigrant and al-Qaeda member by the name of Ahmed Ressam.

What’s so important about Ressam?

Ressam was arrested on December 14, 1999, by the US Border Patrol for refusing inspection and giving false information. However, his arrest uncovered something greater: his plan, known as the Millennium Plot, to bomb Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

After discovering Ressam’s plan, the police questioned the Montreal immigrant community about it – and the author in particular.

Traveling from Canada to Mauritania, the author was apprehended in Senegal.

In January 2000, the author had been away from his home country for 12 years and decided to return to visit his family. He caught a flight to Dakar, Senegal, and planned to drive the remaining distance to Nouakchott, Mauritania with his brothers.

But the trip didn’t go at all to plan.

The author suffered repeated interrogations in Mauritania before being sent to Jordan.

Although he was released, it wasn't long before US interrogators took an interest in the author once again.

One day, while attending his niece’s wedding, the author received a call from Mauritania’s Director General of Security. The two men met and drove together to police headquarters, where the author was again questioned.

In Jordan, the author’s interrogators threatened him with torture if he didn’t confess.

While the author’s family were forbidden from visiting him while he was in Mauritanian custody, they didn’t even know that he had been sent to Jordan until a year afterwards. In fact, they may never have found out at all if the author’s brother hadn’t read an article about the author in the German magazine, Der Spiegel.

But even when they discovered where the author was, his family had no idea how poorly he was being treated. The author arrived, blindfolded and handcuffed, to Amman, Jordan, on the morning of November 29, 2001, and was immediately taken to the notorious House of Arrest and Interrogation.

In 2002, the author was transferred to Guantánamo Bay, where interrogation methods brought his condition from bad to worse.

On July 19, after spending eight months locked up in Jordan, the author was blindfolded, stripped naked, shackled and diapered. He was then sent, under US orders and in a CIA rendition plane, to Guantánamo Bay, also known as GTMO, where he became inmate #760.

What awaited him at GTMO?

At GTMO, the author was interrogated by various US government agencies, accused of terrorist activities and tortured.

While at GTMO, people from a variety of government bodies interrogated the author and accused him of participating in multiple terrorist attacks. In fact, different organizations were involved in each stage of his interrogation.

For instance, his interrogations in Senegal, Mauritania, Jordan and GTMO were all conducted by different agencies – sometimes it would be the FBI, sometimes the CIA and sometimes even special interrogators for the military.

As the author’s interrogation continued, he started admitting to any and all accusations.

After months of serious torture, the author began confessing to all charges, even ones that hadn’t been raised previously.

Why? It all began on August 25th, 2003, when a group of guards staged the author’s abduction.

Despite his confession and legal attempts to secure his release, the author remains in GTMO to this day.

Following the author’s confession and cooperation in taking a polygraph test, his conditions improved somewhat. Once he confessed and incriminated others, he was given hot meals and more regular showers.

But things really started to change when a “new era” of detention began in 2004. Over time, the author was allowed to pray in peace and was given books including the Bible, Star Wars, historical fiction titles and the classic novel The Catcher in the Rye.

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What is Guantánamo Diary about?

Guantánamo Diary (2015) is the edited testimony of a detainee at the Guantánamo Bay detention center in Cuba. These blinks will walk the reader through the story of one man’s interrogation, incarceration and torture at the hands of the US government.

Best quote from Guantánamo Diary

So why was I so scared? Because crime is something relative; its something the government defines and re-defines whenever it pleases.

—Mohamedou Ould Slahi, edited by Larry Siems

Who should read Guantánamo Diary?

People who want an inside look at the notorious US prison on Guantánamo Bay
Anyone hoping to learn more about the treatment of American political prisoners
Anyone interested in the testimonies and struggles of individuals detained by US authorities

About the Author

Mohamedou Ould Slahi is a Mauritanian citizen and, since 2002, a prisoner in the American-run Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.

Larry Siems, the editor of Slahi’s manuscript, is a writer, human rights activist and the author of several books, including The Torture Report: What Documents Say About America’s Post-9/11 Torture Program.

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Politics Biography & Memoir

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