“‘Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists who were plotting to bomb our embassy,’ Bush said in his address. To this day, officials of the Bush administration have provided no credible evidence to back up this administration.”
“I give you 2 years, no problem, but not 7 years.”
These quotes are from an article ABC news did about a former Guantanamo detainee named Lakhdar Boumediene. Bush trumpeted his arrest as a sign of progress in the War on Terror. In truth, it was the beginning of a nightmare for Boumediene.
Boumediene, his wife, and their two daughters lived in Bosnia. He worked for the Red Crescent Society providing help for orphans and other needs.
While there, he was arrested under suspicion of plotting to bomb the U.S. and British Embassies in the country. After searches provided no evidence of any wrongdoing, a Bosnian judge ordered Boumediene and five others be freed. But the Bush administration put pressure on the Bosnian government, which eventually turned the prisoners over to the American military. Instead of being freed after a court found no reason to hold him, he ended up at Guantanamo Bay.
Boumediene had faith that he would be exonerated and released. “I thought America, the big country, they have CIA, FBI. Maybe one week, two weeks, they know I am innocent. I can go back to my home, to my home,” he said. The two weeks turned into about 7 and 1/2 years.
The treatment for that time included being kept awake for 16 days and harsh physical treatment. “Boumediene described being pulled up from under his arms while sitting in a chair with his legs shackled, stretching him. He said that he was forced to run with the camp’s guards and if he could not keep up, he was dragged, bloody and bruised. He described what he called the “games” the guards would play after he began a hunger strike, putting his food IV up his nose and poking the hypodermic needle in the wrong part of his arm.”
“You think that’s not torture? What’s this? What can you call this? Torture or what?” he said, indicating the scars he bears from tight shackles. “I’m an animal? I’m not a human?”
In addition to the harsh physical treatment, Boumediene felt his religious beliefs were used against him. His beard was shaved, he could not read the Qu’ran, and he was not allowed to pray.
What was especially odd about his interrogations was that he was never asked about the plot to blow up the embassies. Instead, he was asked for information on Al Qaeda and bin Laden; information he did not have.
The interrogations did not always lead to truth. Admissions of guilt led to rewards and denials led to punishment. “If I tell my interrogator, I am from Al Qaeda, I saw Osama bin Laden, he was my boss, I help him, they will tell me, ‘Oh you are a good man,’” he said. “But if I refuse ? I tell them I’m innocent, never was I terrorist, never never, they tell me. ‘You are, you are not cooperating, I have to punch you.” What truth comes from this method?
Perhaps the hardest part of his detainment was being separated from his family. He now has stacks of letters from his wife that he never received. He bemoans how much he missed. “I cried, just cried. Because I don’t know my daughters,” he said. “The younger, when I moved from Bosnia to Gitmo, she had 18 months, only 18 months. Now 9 years. Now she’s big. Between 18 months, baby and 9 years, she walking, she’s talking, she play, she’s joking. It’s a big difference.”
The only good news Boumediene received in his time as a detainee was when he won the Supreme Court case Boumediene v Bush. The Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo detainees have right to challenge their detention in federal court.
Shortly after, Judge Leon recognized the lack of evidence and ordered Boumediene’s release. The Bush administration didn’t even charge him with the plot to blow up the embassies, which was why he was originally arrested. They instead said he was planning on going to Afghanistan to fight America.
Boumediene’s reaction to his imprisonment is somewhat mild. “The first month, okay, no problem, the building, the 11 of September, the people, they are scared, but not 7 years. They can know whose innocent, who’s not innocent, who’s terrorist, who’s not terrorist,” he said.
“I give you 2 years, no problem, but not 7 years.”
Boumediene’s feelings about Americans seems to be unaffected by his difficult time. “Boumediene stressed that he has no problem with the American people but could not hide his anger against Bush and other senior administration officials who he called ’stupid.’”
The Pentagon says they are taking Boumediene’s accusations seriously. They will be investigated and punishments given out if necessary.
I am glad this man is finally able to see his family, but it is a shame he missed 7 and 1/2 years of living with them when he was originally found innocent. It is a shame we refused to even check the evidence and see if he was innocent before we started interrogating him in an enhanced fashion.
Even if you don’t want to believe all of his claims, there is no disputing that this man lost 7 and 1/2 years of his life.
Enjoy a picnic.
Adam Feser