EXCERPT:
MB: On one hand, you have spoken to people about what took place in Guantanamo and informed them of that. However, you have also been in contact with many brothers who have returned from Guantanamo, particularly those from Arab countries, as well as in Europe and elsewhere. Could you talk about some examples which you have seen of those who got out of Guantanamo, focusing on the worst cases?
SH: Honestly, brother, I can tell you that the suffering did not end with their release from the prison in Guantanamo, rather it continued even more for many prisoners after release. Most former prisoners were subjected to judicial trials and they were subjected to detention, on the level of the Arab governments and others. Those who were not imprisoned by the governments were imprisoned by the public, i.e. society did not accept them. Society may be convinced that this man is wronged in what happened to him, but everyone remains a victim of their deep seated fear. Many would say to you: "I sympathise with you and I know that you are wronged, but I fear for myself, as I, too, may be accused of terrorism (or what is called terrorism) and may go to a worse place than that from which you came!" Therefore, we can say that most former prisoners, especially those in North Africa, have been subjected to reincarceration. For example, in Tunisia, they were sentenced to many long years; in Libya, they disappeared completely, and until now no one knows anything about their whereabouts, or whether they are alive or dead; in Morocco, they were sentenced; in Algeria, some of them were sentenced... and the list goes on.
Secondly, and on the other hand, these people, after they returned, did not find anyone to help them reacclimatise to society. A person who has been absent from his family, and many of them have wives and children... for example, our brother Abu Abdullah the Algerian has not seen his wife until this moment, despite having been released over three years ago and spending more than five years in Guantanamo. Now, his daughter may have got married, and his children still live in Pakistan while he is in Algeria. He cannot go to them in Pakistan and cannot bring them over from Pakistan to Algeria because he cannot afford the cost of their plane tickets. He does not have the money to even build for them a home and he cannot issue for them a visa. This situation is oft repeated and is nearly identical to the case of Sheikh Alaa’ in Albania: his wife is in Sudan, his daughter got married, and he has not seen his children in more than ten years, and he is unable to bring them over or get them together.
Others are ill. Some suffer from psychological conditions and others from illnesses as a result of poor nutrition, and they have been unable to seek treatment up to this moment. Others are severely ill, such as our brother, uncle Salih in Yemen, who suffers from heart conditions and requires a catheter. Even worse, many former detainees, in fact most of them, are unemployed; no one is willing to offer them any work. So, you can see how a person who was released from this injustice and gained his freedom, but in reality he is imprisoned in a large world, as he found no one to help him and stand with him. Others were charged and subjected to huge financial penalties. Others have children whom they cannot meet or bring up. Imagine a person who has been deprived of his family for more than seven years, then after he returns he is unable to purchase some medicine for his son. He looks at himself and feels paralysed, as he cannot even fulfil his son’s dues; unable to buy his son a chocolate bar or medicine or anything else. This puts him in a very bad psychological state, which may be more difficult than his prison days, because in prison he was incarcerated and in isolation, but now he is before his child who is crying from thirst, hunger, the cold or for whatever reason, yet is unable to offer him anything. He is a man and he is capable of work, but there are no job opportunities; everyone is afraid of him, whether governments or individuals. Even those who sympathise with you and are convinced that you have been done injustice and are in need of help cannot help you out of fear of being held accountable for that.
Islamic organisations all over the Islamic world are being chased by America. America demands Kuwait to shut down the Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage; America demands Saudi Arabia to shut down the Al-Haramain Foundation and to imprison its Sheikh and those working in it. In the meanwhile, we find that Doctors Without Borders’ has a budget of 15 billion Euros from charitable donors, and no one would hold them to account or demand to know the sources of this wealth. Bill Gates in America donates a billion to the organisation, while the Zakat, which is specified by the Shari’ah as an obligation upon you, you are afraid to pay to help these people who really are in need of help.
There is real suffering. Therefore, I can say that former Guantanamo inmates are now suffering from more psychological problems that what they used to suffer in Guantanamo.
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