The Guantánamo Memoirs of Mohamedou Ould Slahi

LS: Why is he still there? Will he ever get out? What happens to him if he does? I can’t figure it out.

MD: I can’t either. The big problem that we ran into, like I said, was, “What can we charge him with?” There really is nothing I know of that you could charge Slahi with at Guantánamo. Which puts him in one of two categories: Either he is an indefinite detainee—and I don’t know what the administration plans to do with those folks, particularly as the war winds down, since we’ve always used the war as justification for indefinite detention—or he’s among the ones they want to transfer out. If it’s the latter, I don’t know what the plan is; I don’t know if Mauritania wants him back, or if another country would be willing to take him. But I think we’ve got some obligation to figure out some solution for him. I mean, the guy’s clearly been mistreated and spent more than a decade of his life in prison, so it would be kind of tough just to walk him out to the gate and say, “Have a nice life.” We owe him some help in having a life..'(Guantánamo’s former chief prosecutor explains what Slahi is like and why the United States owes him more than his freedom.)

For nearly 11 years, Mohamedou Ould Slahi has been a prisoner in Guantánamo. In 2005, he began to write his memoirs of his time in captivity. His handwritten 466-page manuscript is a harrowing account of his detention, interrogation, and abuse. Although his abuse has been corroborated by U.S. government officials, declassified documents, and independent investigators, Slahi tells his story with the detail and perspective that could only be known by himself and the people who have kept him captive. It is impossible for us to meet with him or independently verify his account. Until now, it has been impossible for him to tell his story.

http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guant_namo_memoirs_published_for_the_first_time.html

This week, Slate has published a three-part series of excerpts from Slahi’s declassified memoirs. You can also read a single-page view of the three excerpts here. The entire project, including supplementary materials, is below.

INTRODUCTION:
Who is Mohamedou Ould Slahi, and how did the United States keep him silent for more than a decade?

PART ONE: ENDLESS INTERROGATIONS
He was tortured, beaten, and humiliated, and he remains in prison. Here is his story, in his own words.

PART TWO: DISAPPEARED
When Slahi wouldn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, his captors took him on a torture cruise. They would make him disappear.

PART THREE: FAMILY
Since the torture has stopped, Slahi has learned to play chess and tend to his garden. Today his interrogators are the closest thing he has to a family.

INTERACTIVE TIMELINE:
Mohamedou Ould Slahi has been on an "endless world tour" of detention and interrogation. His life from arrest to today.

INTERVIEW WITH COL. MORRIS DAVIS:
Guantánamo’s former chief prosecutor explains what Slahi is like and why the United States owes him more than his freedom.

THE ORIGINAL:
Composed within Guantánamo’s walls, his memoir runs 466 pages. A portion of Slahi's manuscript, in his own hand.