An excerpt from Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

8/9/2019 An excerpt from Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

1/33

Diar y and annotated diar y copyright 2015 by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Introduction and notescopyright 2015 by Larr y Siems

All rightsresered!In accordance "ith the #!S! $opyright Act o% 1&'() the

scann ing)uploading) and electronic sharingo% any part o% thisboo* "ithout the

permissiono% the publisher constituteunla"%ul piracy and the%to% the author+s

intellectual property! I% you "ould li*e to usematerial %romthe boo* ,other

than%or reie" purposes-)prior "ritten permissionmustbe obtained by

contacting the publisher atpermis si ons . hbgusa!com!/han* you %or your

supporto% the author+srights!

Little) ro"n and $ompany

achette oo* 2roup

12&0 Aenue o% the Americas)3e" 4or*) 34 1010

littlebro"n!com

6irst7dition8 9anuar y 2015

Little) ro"n and $ompany is a diisiono% achette oo* roup) Inc! /he

Little) ro"n name and logo are trademar*so% achette oo* roup) Inc!

/he publisher is not responsible%or "ebsites,or their content- that are not

o"ned by the publisher!

/he achette Spea*ersureau proidesa "ide range o% authors%or spea*ing

eents!/o %ind out more) go to hachettespea*ersbureau!comor call ,:((-

;'(


2/33

JordanAJuly2

O

N E

fghanistanG

002

February 2003

TMO

/he American /eam /a*es Oer !!!Arrial at agram !

!! agram to /MO ! ! ! /MO) the 3e" ome ! ! !

One Day in >aradise) the 3e?t in 1ell

@@@@@@@@@@@@@) 9uly@@) 2002) 10 p!m!A

he music "as o%%! /he conersations o% the guards %aded

a"ay! /he truc* emptied!

I %elt alone in the hearse truc*!

/he "aiting didn+t last8 I %elt the presence o% ne" people) a

silent team! I don+t remember a single "ord during the "hole

rendition to %ollo"!

It becomesclear) %roman unredacted date a %e"pages into the manurophet) >eace be upon him!

One o% the team "rapped a diaper around my priate parts!

Only then "as I dead sure that the plane "as heading to the

#!S! 3o" I started to conince mysel% that Jeery thing+sgonna

be alright!K My only "orry "as about my %amily seeing me on/ in such a degrading situation! I "as so s*inny! I+e been

al"ays)but neer that s*inny8my streetclotheshad become so

loose that I loo*ed li*e a small cat in a big bag!

to the unredacted manuscriptreie"ed the %ootnotes)contributed to them

in any "ay) or con%irmed or denied my speculationscontained in them!

4

GuantanamoDiar_HCtextF1.indd 4 11/25/14 11:42:17 PM


5/33

GUANTNAMO DIAR Y

Ehen the #!S! team %inished putting me in the clothesthey

tailored %or me) a guy remoed my blind%old %or a moment! Icouldn+t see much because he directed the %lashlight into my

eyes!e "as "rapped %romhair to toe in a blac* uni%orm!1e

opened his mouth and stuc* his tongue out) gesturing %or me

to do the same)a *ind o% A test"hich I too* "ithout resishilippinesbecause I+ma"are o% the huge #!S!

Military presencethere! Oh) yes) >hilippinesit is8 they conspired

"ith the #!S! and pulled some shit on me! Ehat "ould the

Huestions o% their Budge beF y no") though) I Bust "anted toarrie and ta*e a pee) and a%ter that they can do "hateer they

please! >lease let me arrie I thoughtG A%ter that you may

*ill me

/he guards pulled me out o% the truc* a%ter a %ie


8/33

M O H A M E D O U O U L D S L A H I

many detainees! Once I entered the room) the guardstoo* the

gear o%% my head! Oh) my ears ached so badly) and so did myheadG actually my "hole body "as conspiring against me! I

could barely stand! /he guards started to deprie me o% my

clothes)and soonI stood there as na*ed as my mother bore me!

I stood there %or the %irst time in %ronto% #!S! soldiers)not on

/) this "as %or real! I had the most common reaction)

coering my priate parts"ith my hands!I also Huietly started

to recite the crisis prayer) Ya hayyu! Ya kayyum! 3obody

stopped me %rom prayingG ho"eer) one o% the M>s "asstaringat me "ith his eyes %ull o% hatred! Later on he "ould

order me to stop loo*ing around in the room!

A@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @ medic gae me a Huic*

medical chec*) a%ter "hich I "as "rapped in A%ghani cloths!

4es) A%ghani clothes in the >hilippines O% course I "as

chained) handsand %eet tied to my "aist!My hands)moreoer)

"ere put in mittens! 3o" I+m ready %or actionEhat actionF

3o clue/he escort team pulled me blind%olded to a neighboring

interrogation room! As soonas I entered the room) seeral peohilippines!

I soonarried) not at a otel but at a "ooden cell "ith neieople "ith hatred al"ayshae something to get o%% their chests)but I "asn+tready to be

that drain!

>rayer in groups "asn+t allo"ed! 7erybody prayed on his

o"n) and so did I! Detainees had no clues about prayer time!

Ee "ould Bust imitate8 "hen a detainee started to pray) "e

assumed it "as time and %ollo"ed! /he Coran "as aailable to

detainees"ho as*ed %or one! I don+t remember as*ingmysel%)

because the handling by the guards"as Bustdisrespect%ulG theythre" it to each other li*e a "ater bottle "hen they passed the

holy boo* through! I didn+t"ant to be a reason%or humiliating

2od+s"ord! Moreoer) than* od) I *no" the Coran by heart!

As %ar as I recall) one o% the detaineessecretly passed me a copy

that nobody "as usingin the cell!

A%ter a couple o% days) @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ pulled

me to interrogate me!@@@@@@@@@@@ acted as an interpreter!

J/ell me your story)K@@@@@@@@@ as*ed!JMy name is) I graduated in 1&::) I got a scholarship to

2ermany! ! ! !K I replied in ery boring detail) none o%

"hich seemed to interest or impress@@@@@@@@@! e gre"

tired and started to ya"n! I *ne" e?actly "hat he "anted to

hear) but I couldn+thelp him!

e interrupted me! JMy country highly alues the truth!

$



26/33

M O H A M E D O U O U L D S L A H I

3o" I+m gonna as* you some Huestions) and i% you ans"er

truth%ully)you+regonna be released and sent sa%ely to your %ams "ere at theirserice! Sometimes@@@@@@@@@ gae me a drin*) "hich I

appreciated) especially "ith the *ind o% diet I receied) cold

M=7s and dry bread in eer y meal! I secretly passed my

meals to other detainees!

One night @@@@@@@@@ introduced t"o military interrogaentagon+s De%ense Intell igence Agency oer the militar y+s

interrogation methods has been "idely documented and reported) most

notably in a May

200: report by the #!S! Department o% 9ustice+s Inspector eneral titled ARe-ie./0 the 12I3# I4-/(-eme4t i4 a45 O'#er-ati/4#/0 Detai4ee I4terr/6ati/4# i4Gua4ta4am/ 2ay7 A06ha4i#ta47 a45Ira8 ,herea%ter cited as DO9 I-! /hereport) "hich is aailable at http8DD"" "!Bustice!goDoi gDspecialDs0 : 0 5

D%inal!pd%) includes substantial sections deoted speci%ically to MOS+s

interrogation!

))
http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/s0805


32/33



33/33

GUANTNAMO DIAR Y

My second neighbor "as t"enty

An excerpt from Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Documents

Transcript of An excerpt from Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi