The End of Guantánamo
We have a simple call for President Trump: Guantanamo detainees must be charged or released – and this illegal prison should be closed for good.
Guantánamo has become an enduring symbol of injustice in our time. It stands for torture, abuse and indefinite detention without charge or trial. A total of 779 prisoners have been held there – and 17 years on it remains open with 40 men still being detained.
Here is a collection of stories from Guantanamo by those who have actually been there – the detainees, both former and current, and the Reprieve lawyers who are fighting for them.
Take action
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Join the movement: Close Guantanamo Bay
We need to get Guantánamo back on the agenda and build pressure on President Trump to close the facility, once and for all. We can do it – but we need your help.
About Guantanamo
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What is Guantanamo Bay? Why hasn’t it been closed? – your questions answered
The systematic use of psychological and physical torture has been widespread... Here’s what you need to know about the world’s most notorious illegal prison.
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7 things you didn’t know about Guantanamo Bay
As it turns out, Guantanamo is not a prison full of the “worst of the worst,” but a prison full of mistakes.
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Comment: Trump knows nothing about Guantanamo Bay
Clive Stafford Smith: What Trump doesn’t appear to understand is that most Gitmo prisoners can’t go “back to the battlefield” – because they were never there in...
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16 years on, the US continues detention without charge at Guantánamo
Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, Reprieve Guantánamo attorney: "If the current President really wants to make America great again, he should make 2018 the year that we close this...
Who are the Guantanamo detainees?
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Saifullah
The oldest detainee in Guantanamo at 70. Has had 2 heart attacks while detained. No charge or trial.
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Ahmed
Pakistani taxi driver endured 545 days of torture in CIA custody before Guantánamo. No charge or trial.
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Khalid
Painter and writer of Guantanamo since 2002. Tortured. Sold for bounty. No charge or trial.
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Haroon
An Afghan refugee, father, poet and aspiring beekeeper. Victim of mistaken identity. Held without charge or trial since 2007.
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Abdul Latif
Famous for drafting a 2,000 Arabic-to-English dictionary. Clear for release. Missed out on freedom due to bureaucratic delay. No charge or trial.
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Towfiq
Poet, prepared for release 3 times. Tortured. Cleared for release. No charge or trial.
Stories
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From the Dark Prison: Some of the torture of Ahmed Rabbani – in his own words
Ahmed doesn’t know exactly how long he was held in the CIA dungeon known as the Dark Prison, but he believes it was around seven months...
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A Handful of walnuts, a prison full of mistakes
When Reprieve’s Clive Stafford Smith first visited Ahmed Errachidi in Guantánamo, he was told that he was about to see a ‘bitter terrorist’. Ahmed turned out to be...
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Air Sunshine – my first trip to GTMO
On the right was a window-less room with a “bed” (or a padded bench is more correct) and a toilet situated behind a chain-link fence. It was a cage.
From inside Guantanamo
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What happens when I give guards presents
Emad Hassan: While I was being fed, the Block Commander fell down unconscious, his eyes rolled back up into his head, a choking sound came out of his chest and his legs...
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Thank you so much for your great kindness and compassion
Younous Chekkouri: I write these words to you with my heart and not with my pen. Thirteen years of sorrow and hope are coming to an end soon hopefully. God be willing.
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197 reporting from a dark hole
Hi! I’m not an alien. My name is 197. I’m serious. I have a name but sometimes I almost forget it. No one here calls me by my name, because my world is Guantanamo.
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Held for 12 years on an island, but I never saw the ocean
I was released from the most notorious prison on earth – Guantánamo Bay. Now I am back to being just an ordinary man, and not a prisoner number.
