Cageprisoners.com
8th January 2007, 11:46 AM
"The world does not know anything about Guantanamo"
(Adel Kamel Abdullah, Bahraini, former prisoner in Guantanamo)
Surviving After Guantanamo Bay
Adel Kamel Abdulla spent nearly four years imprisoned at United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) as one of six Bahraini detainees labelled ‘enemy combatants’ before being released on 4 November 2005 without charge.
Captivity means isolation. We were in a military base, on an isolated island in Cuba. It was as if we did not exist on Earth! We never used to see anyone or anything nor receive any news. We could barely see sunlight. Almost none of the letters that we wrote to our families were sent. After a year at the Bay we knew something was wrong when we received letters from our family saying they had not heard from us.
At night the lights were so strong that it was difficult to know whether it was night or day. We couldn’t sleep because it was constantly noisy. There were lots of scorpions, insects, lizards and rats. We were allowed a 3 minute shower per week. There were no clean clothes and those we had were made of polyester, which was horrible in the hot and humid weather.
The prison is under the control of psychiatrists whose goal is to turn us crazy by the time we left, but I think it’s they who are crazy now.
It was very difficult. I lost hope in my ever being released. In those first few weeks at Guantanamo prison our spirits were so low; we were depressed and entirely miserable. We turned to God for help, spending as much time as we could in prayer and reading the Holy Qur’an and as the days went on we began to feel we were in God’s hands and that gave us all the strength and patience we needed to survive Guantanamo. [More...] (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18118)
Events
International Day to Shut Down Guantánamo (http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=415)
Thursday, January 11, 2007 The 5 year anniversary of the first prisoners being brought to Guantánamo
'Say No to Torture' Day of Action (http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=439)
We declare January 11, 2007, five years after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo, an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantánamo.
Guantanamo Vigil: 5 Years On (http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=438)
On 11 January 2007 the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay will have been in operation for five years. Join the London Guantanamo Campaign and its supporters as we mark this day with a vigil outside Downing Street demanding the closure of the prison.
From Behind Bars
Eid Greetings from the Hostages of Camp Long Lartin (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18112)
We wish to convey our gratitude to Cageprisoners and Hhugs for all the continuous support they give us and all our brothers and sisters unjustly imprisoned all over the world.
Articles
How I Was Kidnapped by the CIA (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18144)
by Mohammed Al Shafey
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, otherwise known as Abu Omar al Masri, has provided detailed information to Asharq Al Awsat regarding his case, which is now at the center of a European-American dispute after the CIA was accused of abducting him in broad daylight from a street in Milan and handing him over to Egyptian authorities.
Australian Court Orders Re-Trial on Terrorist Charges (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18143)
by David Taylor and Mike Head
The same Victorian Court of Appeal that four months ago quashed two terrorist-related convictions against Melbourne man Jack Thomas, last week ordered a re-trial. In a case that has become a symbol of the determination of the Howard government and sections of the media to pursue the “war on terror” at all costs, the decision sets another dangerous precedent for flouting fundamental legal and democratic rights.
Relatives Wage Battle Against Arrests (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18146)
by James Rupert
In the 17 months since Ahmed Masood Janjua disappeared, his wife, Amina, has been running his business, raising their three children and suing the Pakistani government over its secret imprisonment of hundreds of men. Including, she says, her husband.
700 Pakistanis Missing Since Start of War on Terror (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18119)
Sitting against a small table in her home in Pakistan's northern city of Rawalpindi, 10-year-old Ayesha Janjua writes a letter to President Gen Pervez Musharraf. She is appealing to him to get her father, missing for the last one-and-a-half years, released.
A Dangerous Equivocation (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18120)
by Conor Foley
When serious intellectuals seem to endorse the use of torture, it is really time to worry about the future of human rights.
Hunt for CIA 'Black Site' in Poland (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18110)
by Nick Hawton
I stood at the end of the frozen runway, peering through the mist, trying to make out the terminal building in the distance.
[More Articles at Cageprisoners.com (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?type=Articles)]
News
GUANTANAMO
Hicks To Be Tried Soon: Ruddock (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18148)
Appeals Court Won't Take Arguments From Retired Judges in Guantánamo Case (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18150)
Hicks Deserves Trial: Brigadier (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18141)
McDade Condemns Hicks' Treatment (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18142)
Lack of Info Hinders Detainee Reviewers (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18136)
Cuba: France Investigates Data on Guantanamo Prision (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18122)
Guantanamo Detainee Released (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18115)
Former Guantanamo Bay Detainee Held Again, Perhaps Over Prison Memoir (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18105)
Austin Lawyer's Afghani Client Released (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18106)
New Guantanamo Court To Have Restaurants (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18108)
US
Terror Case Lingers 3 Years (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18152)
UK
Charity Link To Hamas Investigated (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18154)
GHOST
Missing People’s Kin Stopped From Protesting Near ISI HQ (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18155)
US Tries to Assure Allies that Extraordinary Renditions are Over (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18107)
Attorney Challenges Rauf’s Arrest (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18156)
[More News on the War on Terror at Cageprisoners.com (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?type=News)]
(Adel Kamel Abdullah, Bahraini, former prisoner in Guantanamo)
Surviving After Guantanamo Bay
Adel Kamel Abdulla spent nearly four years imprisoned at United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) as one of six Bahraini detainees labelled ‘enemy combatants’ before being released on 4 November 2005 without charge.
Captivity means isolation. We were in a military base, on an isolated island in Cuba. It was as if we did not exist on Earth! We never used to see anyone or anything nor receive any news. We could barely see sunlight. Almost none of the letters that we wrote to our families were sent. After a year at the Bay we knew something was wrong when we received letters from our family saying they had not heard from us.
At night the lights were so strong that it was difficult to know whether it was night or day. We couldn’t sleep because it was constantly noisy. There were lots of scorpions, insects, lizards and rats. We were allowed a 3 minute shower per week. There were no clean clothes and those we had were made of polyester, which was horrible in the hot and humid weather.
The prison is under the control of psychiatrists whose goal is to turn us crazy by the time we left, but I think it’s they who are crazy now.
It was very difficult. I lost hope in my ever being released. In those first few weeks at Guantanamo prison our spirits were so low; we were depressed and entirely miserable. We turned to God for help, spending as much time as we could in prayer and reading the Holy Qur’an and as the days went on we began to feel we were in God’s hands and that gave us all the strength and patience we needed to survive Guantanamo. [More...] (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18118)
Events
International Day to Shut Down Guantánamo (http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=415)
Thursday, January 11, 2007 The 5 year anniversary of the first prisoners being brought to Guantánamo
'Say No to Torture' Day of Action (http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=439)
We declare January 11, 2007, five years after the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo, an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantánamo.
Guantanamo Vigil: 5 Years On (http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=438)
On 11 January 2007 the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay will have been in operation for five years. Join the London Guantanamo Campaign and its supporters as we mark this day with a vigil outside Downing Street demanding the closure of the prison.
From Behind Bars
Eid Greetings from the Hostages of Camp Long Lartin (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18112)
We wish to convey our gratitude to Cageprisoners and Hhugs for all the continuous support they give us and all our brothers and sisters unjustly imprisoned all over the world.
Articles
How I Was Kidnapped by the CIA (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18144)
by Mohammed Al Shafey
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, otherwise known as Abu Omar al Masri, has provided detailed information to Asharq Al Awsat regarding his case, which is now at the center of a European-American dispute after the CIA was accused of abducting him in broad daylight from a street in Milan and handing him over to Egyptian authorities.
Australian Court Orders Re-Trial on Terrorist Charges (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18143)
by David Taylor and Mike Head
The same Victorian Court of Appeal that four months ago quashed two terrorist-related convictions against Melbourne man Jack Thomas, last week ordered a re-trial. In a case that has become a symbol of the determination of the Howard government and sections of the media to pursue the “war on terror” at all costs, the decision sets another dangerous precedent for flouting fundamental legal and democratic rights.
Relatives Wage Battle Against Arrests (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18146)
by James Rupert
In the 17 months since Ahmed Masood Janjua disappeared, his wife, Amina, has been running his business, raising their three children and suing the Pakistani government over its secret imprisonment of hundreds of men. Including, she says, her husband.
700 Pakistanis Missing Since Start of War on Terror (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18119)
Sitting against a small table in her home in Pakistan's northern city of Rawalpindi, 10-year-old Ayesha Janjua writes a letter to President Gen Pervez Musharraf. She is appealing to him to get her father, missing for the last one-and-a-half years, released.
A Dangerous Equivocation (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18120)
by Conor Foley
When serious intellectuals seem to endorse the use of torture, it is really time to worry about the future of human rights.
Hunt for CIA 'Black Site' in Poland (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18110)
by Nick Hawton
I stood at the end of the frozen runway, peering through the mist, trying to make out the terminal building in the distance.
[More Articles at Cageprisoners.com (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?type=Articles)]
News
GUANTANAMO
Hicks To Be Tried Soon: Ruddock (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18148)
Appeals Court Won't Take Arguments From Retired Judges in Guantánamo Case (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18150)
Hicks Deserves Trial: Brigadier (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18141)
McDade Condemns Hicks' Treatment (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18142)
Lack of Info Hinders Detainee Reviewers (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18136)
Cuba: France Investigates Data on Guantanamo Prision (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18122)
Guantanamo Detainee Released (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18115)
Former Guantanamo Bay Detainee Held Again, Perhaps Over Prison Memoir (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18105)
Austin Lawyer's Afghani Client Released (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18106)
New Guantanamo Court To Have Restaurants (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18108)
US
Terror Case Lingers 3 Years (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18152)
UK
Charity Link To Hamas Investigated (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18154)
GHOST
Missing People’s Kin Stopped From Protesting Near ISI HQ (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18155)
US Tries to Assure Allies that Extraordinary Renditions are Over (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18107)
Attorney Challenges Rauf’s Arrest (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=18156)
[More News on the War on Terror at Cageprisoners.com (http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?type=News)]