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he young receptiomst can hardly
"Olrhh,
contain her delight.
I'ou're
meeting Jamal? He's actually
coming in here today? ohhh, he's
so lovely," she says. It's a busy
aftemoon in the omce of one of
I
Maichester'sbest-loroiv'ncriminal lawyers, and Jamal al Harith, one of the
Bav in
bv the US in Guantanamo Bay
five men held by
Cuba and released earlier this year, is due any
minute. while we wait, his lawyer, Robet
Lizar, is explaini.ng how h€ took on the case.
"His
sister. Sharon, is an old client of ou.rs,"
"and
she asked us to r€present him. I
he says,
61st met him when he was bmught offdre plaie
ftom Cuba. The police tried questioning him
rvhen he landed, but we told them to get lost.
They looked embarrassedforeven trying it He
\lzlked awav without a stain on his character."
Suddenly and silently in oul midst is the
imDressive presenc€ of Jamal al Harith. I
actually smeil hlm beforc I see himr a thick
cloud of unmistdcably expensive cologne
billows in my direction, causing me to look up.
He's bmught a pal with long dreadlocks who
"Hi,
I'm Jamal,"
silendy watches everlthing.
"He's my
we
hands.
shake
he announces as
bodyguard." He nods in the direction ofhis
'lMhat's his name?" I ask. "He ain't got
buddy.
one," says Jamal flatly.
The strong tsagrance is the onJy overthe-top
rhing about JarnalaJ Harith. In person he s a
studv in minimalism. He stands about six feer
ta.ll, ihaven-headed with a neat beard, and has
the shoulders and arms ofan atlilete. He wears
baggr trousers, a dark T_shirt a.nda sleeveless
6 tge gtn*o vrGaztrros.oe,ol
!€st and is devoid ofth€ jewellery and designer
labels favoured by local men ofcomparable age
and race, so he stands out a mile for what he
isn't nther than what he is. He seems oddly
quiet but his body language is graceful, like a
modern dancer's. Inter I discover he worked
as a male model for a while: something he t€lls
me and, for some rcason, instandy regrets.
The moment we meet, he pausesand )iterally
looks me up and down. Then he chucHes. I feel
like a dodry carrot being e:€mined by an expert
buyer in Sainsbury's and not quite making the
Erade.
Jamal was reunited with his fimity in Manchester in March this year, after spendmg more
than two years at Calnp X-Ray in Guantanamo
Bav. the Ameican nav€l base in Cuba where
suipected terrorists have been held since the
besirminE ofdp war on terror. He was released
a]o;g witi four otller Britons; four more remain
in custody in Cuba- Our interview today is
scheduled to take place 100 yards down the
road in Lizafs smallerbranch ofree, ald as we
*alk dEough Moss Side people st€I)out to \*?1€
at Janal or shake his hand. He has become
something ofa street-level hero - except today
he seems cool alld distaat. He looks like a man
going through the motions; an unwiling
politician standing for a public office he never
barsained for
Inside the meetinq room I discov€r he wants
his unnamed bodlguard to sit in on the inter_
view. I so with the Ilow and asree, deciding
that the-photographer working *j*t -" -in
a.lsosit in. Somewhere at the back ofmy mind
I am cs-lculating the odds in a list-light. The
atmosDhere is weudlv con&ontational. I sit
down-'tacinglamai arm; a lalrrye/s table. hter.
it occ1rs to me tllat tle set-upp'robablyreminded
him ofother morc sinister interviews.
I try some small talk. asking him to tell me
his biognphical deta.ils who he is. where he
comes from,litde things people feel confortable chaiting ebout. He says nothingr just rolJs
his eyes. I b-y again. Flis face registers notling.
He looks at his pal sittlng beside me, then
chuckles again. FinaJJy. I gel my first an$ver.
"I
don t want to speak ebout my finily or anyt-hing,but I m 37." he sayst-hrowh gdtted tee$.
I can't undersland whyhe is so cagey.lt s
lsrown he was bom Ronald Fiddler, and t-hat
he grew up with his father and two sisters tnearb Hyde before noving to Moss Side wherh€ was eisht. His molher walked oul ofthe
bmily home when he was a child. He aftended
university in Manchester in the mid-1980s,
where he studied computing and religious
studies; in the early nineties he bega.nstudying
lslam seriously and saved enough money to
travel widely in lslamic countries such as
Sudan,where he studied A-cabic.ll wBs around
this time he dunged hi. rume to Jamal al Haritr.
'liked
he has clanred he chose it because he
how ir sounded . not becauseofany deeper
religious signifi crnce.
He 6rst visited Pakistan in 1992and soor
became a regular traveller to the region. Hc
rerumed to the counb-y in late Oclober 2001 just over a month after the September 11>
Jamatal H.rithr his caotorstried to torture him
with FleetwoodMac,but hejustdancedaLong
'*,
COVER 5T0RY
Thetaperecordingof-theinterviewat this
ILe menwith thegunsthoughtthey'dcap-
>terror.attacks-a:p?rtofe.,yiderjourney
ffi"t1tJ#;,flmiHsT:$:f
fffi%t"r*;r,r"Y;.*fr,T:#,ffi
y'rough lhe r,eg.ol.beckpackingasusual.His
thethinwalls oftbe meetingrool!" youcanhe3r IGndahrr. Hi sals five men.laid inio me'. on
homebeforeheleft-andsincehisreturn-was
e spare__room
in his sister Sharo_n's
near-by
house.He has three childrenaged three,6ve
and eighL.Foma marriagewhich apparendy
enctect
ended
rn divorce.
in
cuvorce.
oneofthis is i.nany_waydamagI
I
mgorunusua! DutJamalsmply
L
I
won't talk about it. Iie seems
-,
I
utterly ofrendedeveawhen I
lI
I
tell hirn I lmow his narnewee
I
I
RonaldFtddler.Sollobanother
f.
I
softquestionabouthisembrace
of Islam. He iNtandy
oflslatrt.
instandy tosses,beck
tossesbeck areplyof
sorts.aboutbahngmost people'sperceptions
ot whet-lsiarn is all about, but eve,ntually
e)9rain:bebec8meeMuslim in the€arly1990s,
smund tbe time.he-startedtravellin&
I'mexcitedat-fnallypnningdownafict,but
realise a veritable marathon ofan interview
Etretchesbe^fore
me we'rc_a_lgngwayofiwhy
he went_toPakistanpostgru; ho{' he wasbed
.__ __ _
me brcathing heavily in Fustratioa and the
shlfitng ofthe threeotherpeoplei:r the rooDo.
Finally 1ou hear me askingthi photographer
andja;al's friend: "Ca! *iha"i tle 6oi fot
aminute?'Theirhappyrepliessuggesttheye&
aminute?'lheirba_ppy
repliessuggesttheyerc
askeenaslamfrrthemtovacatetheprenrises.
thetapedidcotreslchatwithJanalinprirste.
his drilalther€,6uthethidstt"
r* tt*rr.f
met other guysin the pri.; who goi ;;;u.
Ttey6ridtf,eiwerciorGn€dtryArab:,"hesays.
Aiier 72 f,ours h" *"" ";;ai; ";;;;;
guardedby the Tatibanbut run by priioners
prisoners
themselves,It {,as here that he [eard ofthe
slaughterof eaotherWe"t;". tho"ght t" L
e slrjl.,I{ewas an Amedcanand I cor:ld heer
Five minutes tater I press the record button hiri-beingtalentottretoiterlheyweremaking
,g"in.lhb tim€ I sdi4terviewingediglerent n-oilii*aU.""t*i"!L,ict.;ff"*,rfi
man. Yes,he bas the same naJe, Jamal al heghim in EDglbhtslkingli"tf "V""t . f*"J
Haiith, but this time he wants the ri/orld to toherrhimb€jfobeatenat-night.Andonetime
lcrow wbat happenedto hin efter he w;t to *t ", I *"rrt ao'\^,"to Ueinierrogated I saw
Pakistan
Pekistanin 2001end
20br end b-ecame
becameembroiled in a brokenstidc,
stida. soIloewhe
rlmewhe'db;;i.""'*r.J
dbeeniterrogated
globslconllidwhichledrohimbeingflunginto beforema,,
successivesri"I.ingcellsinAftharri:taabefore Jamaltellsofho$,the lblibenintedotators
beingcggedlike a dog i:oCubaand u.ltimately produced a thick intelligence file on the
set F€€{'ithout epolosr or ergirnation.
American spy they were [eating. ..Now we
that we-ntyours,i"they-said.f,ater, soineonetolJ
_ Heexpleins at iingth and;nvincingly
he did in 6ct contact-thepskistanemb;ly for Ja&atiheAneric;'sbody.*tt"t;"ihfrrtt
advicebeforetravellingin 2001.He wasnitup "iew sorneo,hete.Itdril;thi@
t[ "r-"
toarything suspicious,he sayshe wassimpf gris]yetrdiDgwasin sior€for theuin formerlv
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sinply brvelina in tbarpartofthe woild wes shake.and rh"egyoud i*. I,tr" rutiU* **"
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Westem clothes hint at how he achieves a
balaacebetweenEqstsnd West?At this Doinr
all hell breal<sloosa He seemsofiended&ratI
am suggesting-and I'rD not - that be isn t
dressingapgopriately. "This is Islamicl" he
protestsangrily.'Tbe factI m coveringmlseu
is lslamic.There'snothing iD lhe fbraD saysI
have to wesr whetever.Sofor you !o seyI'm
not dressingIslamic is q,rong." The veins on
his neckand forearmsare poppingout.
Everyonein themom hol&. thenslowlylets
out. a long breath.I try end caln thingsdown
telling him I meant no harm, that I'm not
interrogadnghim.But forthe ne"ytten minutes
I getberelyanymorcinforuntion. I do 6nd out
he had plenty ofcashbeforegoingto Pskistan
in late October 2001- he'd been a well-paid
websitedesigner"t got 92,500for onejob," he
sevs.When I askhim \ ,'tNhewent to hkiste.u
afler 941,a time when ev-eryotherpersonwas
evoidinEiL hetellsmei'Tte planewaspadad."
SurelyEe ca.nurderstand why peopie might
think it wessusDicious?'1
don'thaveto rnswer
that," he repliei. "I spenttwo yearsanswering
thet question."
He is down to one-word answers now:
Where did he Favel to?"lGrachi." His ola:rs?
"Travel." Where was he goingwhen hi was
"cot in tuclc
stopped?'t€n."Wbatbappened?
Truck was stopped. Took me out." Was he
scared?"Happy." What? "I was scared!" he
replies, exasperatedat me not noticing his
sarcasm.In what ciromstanceswashis tuck
stopped?"No idea."
8 rsepenaLo
luonateos,oe.ol
T
I
COVER5TORY
combatants.A handfrrlof children, classiFed
"jmiol',
in a similar way under the category
held
nearby
> SoecialForcesarrived and informed hirn were
'Tou re not going
Oddly,hercmembersapleasantfirst impresaboirrtheir newplansfor him.
"It
openandyou couldseethe
anwhere." thev said.Insteadhe was interro- sion: wasmore
"You could seethe elements.
gied agin. Th6yaskedhim to rel'€athis story hills." he savs.
He did. They askedhim to repeatit again.He Your mind is awake." But any of the better
d.id.And again.Ard apin. And again He told memoriesfade ouicklv when I askhim about
tlern hewastellingthetuth: theydidn t believe abusesby the Arnerican forcesholding him.
hirn. It wasaeony.He keDttelling it andno one He's seentherccentimagesfrom the Baghdad
believedh;n'. Ifien they took photos of him. prison at Abu Ghraib - run by US Major?leneralGeoftev Miller. who commaadedthe
and askedhim to reoeathis story oncemore
Durins onesuchencountersomeBritish SAS prison at GuaatararnoBay when Jarnajwas
soldieriwatkedby. He heardthem talking there- and isn t surprisedat all.
was subjededto mosdytr'adiAt first Ja.rnal
Eventuallvhe sookewith them ard was told
"checkedout fine" end that he'd tional interrogationteclmiques.'Theywmted
his story liad
be goin; homea.fterbeingpmcessedin Cuba. informetion fiom me, they x'anted my life
He alsoreca.llsrneeringsomeAmeric& guards history I ve seeneveryinterrogationtechnique
who told him they were in fact h*stily drafted thercis.Theyweren'tsurewho I wasandwere
New Yorkcoos."J qavethemrnve-mailaddress stumped thet I was so cleaa, I think. They
and sajd I d'do tlim a websiG.They said, lf tlowht I was Iranian, or evenen MIs agent.
you re telling the bruththenyou'll be a.llfight. They saidMIs becausetheyput my picture
j rhoughtit d tal(etwo months. I thought l d and my nameinto an intemationel database
and it cameback clean. I haven't even got a
nothingto worry ebout."
pa*ing tid€t.'Ihey:d ntydetailsseemedlike
But he had plenty to worry about
theyw€remacteup, rn€y sard|t wssrmpossrole
winging backon his chair,Jarnal dnt I didn't havea criminal record,or evena
ticket. I was too clean.thev said.
al Harith rolls his eyesto the sDeedinq
"ieafi,an; tllat's thewayI m goingto walk out,'
ceiling and st .rtsto rccollectin
detail what happenedto him. I told them."
I{is caDtorstumedthewet€ronandoff.Food
This is the 6rst time he s really
goneinto the story in arrydepth would comeand go. then stop completely.
InterroEationswere heldand thensuspmded.
sincehis release,he says.
" Evenwhen they broughtusin to the Amer- Cedain-inEAtes
wereta4eted-othersleft alone.
icanbasein Kandahertheywerc beetingusup All this was designed to keep inmates offwe gotquestioned
naked.Theykickedus.beat balancepsvcholoeicallvCounFvandwestem
us,srrippedusandputusonthegroud - the/d musicaridioud inldustiialnoisei wereblasted
cut our ilothes ofiwith somethitg sherpreally at t]rcdetainees;e!'entuellytley Eiedto toture
fast- ard we'd to nlJrthroughwith our hards J$rlalby forcinghim to listento horm ard hours
behindour backs.Youcouldr't seewhereyou ofFleetwood Mae. It backliredrhe started
rverebecauseof the hoodover your heed.We energeticallysingingand d.ncing elongto the
were outsidesomewherebecauseI could feel track Litde Lies.
Tlrc pdsone$ fied to keeptheir spirits up.
myselfsplashingtlrough water,ald we went
intoa tentandtwo guyswerequestioningyou Jamalloved the Cuban$msetsand sunrises,
na.kedandyouhadto tell your storyagain.Then and enjoyedwEtchingthe birds swoopingand
they tale DNA from you lwith a mouth swab] divirg outsidehis cage.Therewere no books,
and thenthevEiveyou clothes.This wasthe so the men shoutedstoriesftom cageto cage
frrst time I ;es-|'a-ke;into tle Kandaharbase to keeptheir minds active.Poetrywasrecited
'
I wastherefor two weeksafterthat. The date too, but the big etrtertainment was dreems.
Thev ate. lived and breathed Lheirourn and
wasTanuarv24. 2002.
He waseventuallyput on a planeboundfor everyoneelse'sdreamsOneinmate.lockedup
'Thejoumey was very very hard, he acrossthebloc&b€crmethedlean hterpr€t€r.
Cuba.
"Dependingwhat block you were in, you'd
up like an
says.He leansforward a.ndhunches
'You
have
to shoutyour dream over.' saysJamal.
were tied up
animal shackledto a fence.
"You
d tell it to one guy, then Le'd chat it
in chainsand shacHedaroundyour waist.And
thenpassed
vou d shackleson vourfeet,cluined to theflmr acrossandit d be interyrcted and"fhat
meeDs
ih"." *r. " "h"in "t yo* backgoingup to the backto I'ou. He d saythingslike.
or 'That
ceilingaswell. And you d headphonesthat cut vou have to have more DaLience'
into your earsand gogglestlat cut into your mesnsvou U be &eesoon',Someonehavin{ 5
eyes.And you'd a medical patch on your gooddieam would tell everyone."Ja.malonie
"Ihe patchconlaineddrugsto crlm drearnedheu be&€ein twoyeeis.At theoutsel
forehead.
him down.A.lltheotherprisonersw€reEeated ofhis DrisonsentenceLhissowded terrible.As
the two-yearmark approached.be starteq
the same.
oftheflightis of hoDinqit wasaccu.rate.
Jamals otherchiefmemory
Sin;le tasksbecamedif6cult:thingslike
a peanurbutter sandwichhe wasgivenby a
guard."Maybebecauseof the hungerit t sted doinqthe toilet witl somedicxity insidearooen-aircace.Youdo it in buckets,saysjamal.
nicer.but it was6eet," he savs
'i'he ouardslooked in. At 6rst I didnt know
on arrival in duba he rem'embenthe blast
ofwarm airashewashauledofrtheplaneThm how t; useit. It s not a matterofjustsittingon
he wesput onto somekind ofcra.ftthat zipped abucket-vou haveto sit andDuta@veraround
fastover someopenwater,He couldl't seeor you. I was using a sma-lltowel acrossmy lap
heerorooerlvsohecant bespecific,buthecent but then I sswsomeonewrappingtowelsrighl
forgeibdingshoutedat by hii ne* guards,who aroundthemselves.Youdo it everydayandget
screamed:"Youre now in the handsoi tne usedto it. I dont larowifyour dignity go€s,bul
United StatesMaine Corys!"
"Ttrey were barhng like dogs. saysJamal '"i"i-.iill"s
th" -.n did was watched,and
''we were told to look down and not to movc. t}rishelied th; gusrdsadministertorture.They
who appea.redmouvaredol
But the boat was su€ying so we did too, and targetect-anyone
so everyonegot hit. They used elbows,slaps nt, saysJefiral,so someoneoorngpusn-up9ot
sit-uDsor runninq on the spotwould suddeDly
and kickirg."
He knew he was going to Camp X_RaYat find ihemselvesSeingattackedby five men ir.
GuantanamoBay becausehe'd hesrd aboutit full riot gearand forced to tal<ean injection.
on a radio backin Afghanistan.At the time
ar ToDhft. Jamatafterhis(onversionto lslamin
tlere were about 650pdsoners_be-ingheld
tle c€mo.Most were suspectedol links with the earty1990s.Toprighhtheshndardklt
Guantanamo
Bay
todetaineesat
al Oae&: all were classedasunlawfirl enemy issued
10 ltrerealLovneaztreos.or.oa
Broken limbs and battered hces were the norm.
The iniections had a powerirl effect, saysJanall
"the
i h : n e v o u ' d n b t ; c ew 3 \ l h a t e v c r y o n e
would rleeo for the whole of the dal People
were lerharbc. lt was in the tood as well. You
dont noti..."Bur the 6rst time t-herewas nothing
rr the food you d wale up and you couJd *ri-n&
There was no haze over the mind. Any time
there was trouble, the next day we'd be out of
it. When it was gone you d notice there was a
claitv of thinldoe."
He-belieuest}ai 'vhen he 'ras fon'iblv injed'd
he wa' 6lmed
wirn this unidendnedsubsrance,
by quards.Hehad <eenit happento othen He
,ivi he was ana"ked and inieoed in this way
si\ time. during his rwo years in Cuba Men
crac)<edup durirg their urca-rceration some. he
\ a y s , w e r e g i v e n a n t i - d e p r e s s a n tosr P a r n killers, then wheeled away on stretchers to a
spenialbloc} out of sightoi other prisonert HP
kept his spirit. up by praying^regularly sometimes ro lhe astonishment ofguard. Two of
them, he claims, were impressed enough that
thev became Muslims tlemselves
dther detaineeshave spoken ofincidences
ofabuse by Arnericar foares in A-lghanislan
Tamal tells me he heard that Amefican Eoops
ordered an afghan soldier to 6rc shots into the
srdesolcontainers packed witi capLive' who
had surrendered. He was told dul manv people
died;he was also lold t}al Red Cro.s officials
stood bv and did nolhing. I a'k him what
"some
ofthe Birmingham guys
evldence he has.
w.re h the container', hetells me The Bifmingham guys are other Britons released From
Cuantanamo Bav at tie sajne hme as Jarnal
He also spealcsof the use ofprostitut€s at
G u a n t a n a m oB a v . Y o u n gM u s l i m s h e s a y s
were Laken out. sirioped and faced $'itn na.lied
oomen who then iexually abused them. not
o n l y b r e a k i n g i n l e r n a l i o n a ll e g a l r u l e s b u t
deliberatelv violalins then Muslim beliefs
When I ask ifhe thought about his family to
kcep him goingduring dark penods. he laughs
at tlc vcry idea. No $ay. T regardedthat as a
sigl of wealmess.I rold guys to I ea-rthef pholot
up roo. He sayshe pray"d lor srreng$ And
eventuallv Allah eav€ it to hlln.
THEYTOLDMEITWAS
HAVEA
I DIDN'T
IMPOSSIBLE
T()O
IWAS
RECORD.
IRIMINAL
TiLi
:
T[4gtff'S
SAID.
THEY
DIEAN,
P
\,*rl1dt;
[rUT;LlS:iqi,]'
ll ltL$'r'flp|lii
'.
ntil the very end, his story seems
to have confounded his captors.
"Thev came the dav before we
-..e released in March and
took us out ofisolation," he saYs
l,-r
H e s u d d e n t ys t i p si n t o a s t r a n g ea n d h o r r i b L y
painftil monologue about how hard it was to
wash in the Cuantanamo Bay cages He 'ays
he tells peopl€ about this and it never comes
out rishi. Fiis description now has an arvfirl
hrensity. I feel a. iI l'm hearing a conlession
But h"keeps repeatingthat his wordsjusl don t
conuev t}le terrible lnhumaniry ofbeingforced
ro be iirry whenyourevery ba\ic instinct tells
you to be clean.Then he mime\ - as mu.h to
-hi-sel-fas
me the terrible act olfranticallr
u5inq tittle drjps ol water from a fillhy pipe lo
,\,r.f, uour ut d-"rarms-d crorch,before"ven
that liirle sprinhle is turned ofby some guard
watch.ingvia a monitor and enjoying Lnepo|er
trip. I sudderJyieelashamedjor havingnored
hii srrongcologne smelJwhen rve 6rst met
''I
was in isolation foramonth ard t}leygdve
me no.oao. hpsays. ldidnthav"asho'ver'
lcouldn t evenchargemyclories. and rhe onJv
wav I m wa'hinemvselli\ witi water Twash
'milJ my hands. and 'uash unril drere s no sme
on mv hand.. Usingjustsarer bom a lzp When
the shell wasn t soitrone dren I d hrorv I s a.
ctean. I'd try and do that about three times a
dav. But no maner how majlv rimes I say rhar
oriell oeople like vou about it and then read
it " not the same because
mv *ofos ii' * *til.,
wlen you're f€€ling it it's d ifferent."
Eventually he gives up even trying He secm'
t o t a l l v e x h a u s t e dw i t h t h P e f f o r l b u l a l s o
reliev'edto his rnarrorvthat lhe encounterwidr
jnt€rrogtor is over We step outside
yet
'intoanother
the sunshine and Jamal tells tie photographer that he ll give him no more than IPn
minure.. Everyonc nearby automaLicallvgi\ e'
fum soaceon t}e pavemenl l decide one lett
m e m L e r o f t h e a u d r e n c ew h e n h i s p i ' t u r e i s
beine raken isn t a bad Idea and brd him
fare*eU. Su'prisingly. he hugs me and agreer
to meet aqainsome Lime Justdon\bring)orr
cass€fte ;corder." he wams m€, smiling.
Later Robe Lizar, th€ lawyel asks me horv
I got Jarnal to tmst me dunng the interview
H; d heard lvewerenr gening along too welJ
I exDlain lo him whal I said lo Jamal and he
"Ctever" I repty: " More like desperate
repti'es:
and the truth."
"Answer mv
What I said to Jamal was this:
questionsandI'lltseatyou6 yinpdnt." when
he replied: Whv should I belrevevou?'
"Because I
I ansiered:
iust might be telling
the
truth."
vou
He could havelaughedin my hce lwouldn t
have blamed him. But I figured he, more than
anyone, might know what this particular
pr€dicanent was like.
He did. I
J,HJ',,lit;,:*!led:';;
tor the
tne Taliban
laxban
hqhhng for
mountains and were fighting
the momtains
and that w€ could be picked up an,'lvhere in
the world and put in jail. Sign or we wouJdr't
be eoinqhome.Wewent in and said no.'They
serit him and four other B tish prisoners
:t.:
plane. But he did it, and is more or less happy
to slart settinEl!s storv out.
He sals he desperatelyneededhelp, professional assistance maybe a paid-for stay in a
place where he could come to terms with his
ixperience with some counselling He also
wants a srraighdorward apolory from the UK
govemnent. Instead, all he has got is time spent
ahut in rooms with journalists Lke me.
He tells me how aDDearancesare deceptive;
he says he's read a few of the interviewslet
siven and feels his corffnenis are worthless
-He
say. no on. can ,rnderstand what s hap
p " n e d t o t n * T o u n d e r s r a n d m ey o u h a ! e l o
6e punished, you have to be beaten you have
to be pul in j;olation. you have Io be pul in a
caqe. He seemson the vergeoftea$ You cai
Lrn-derstand.People will say. You ve been in a
caeefor rwo years but look, you re so sfrong.
vo-ulook al risht, but thev donl urderstand
what I ve been tllrough. Ju\l becausel'm men'
tally strong doesn't mean tlat what I've been
rhrouqhwa.n t bad. lI I camc our pqy'"holosicallv damae.d aid physically broken. they d
.i, r'd t'ud iih,'a. Bui the fact I 'urvived
thioush ir doe'n'r mean I didn t .ufer I "did
And ils somethirg that affects your soul
On the fliEht back to Britain, MIs men
accomoanied-him and peeped ir the toilet door
when ie trled to relieve himsefpnvately for
the fi.rst time in two years He l€t them watch
because he wBs past caring, he says
His r€action on leaving Giantaiamo Bay was
not what he had expecGd. I was abit scared
to leave Cuba, acrually, and I didn t lmow what
was Eojnsto haDFen.Even thoud you havent
done-anything, y6u've st got to fac€ the world
You have to get back into the world agarn' and
you thin}, 'I've been away for two years It's
iear - vou have to so back arrd face everyone.
to teave. But that didn't
et n'"i r did"r **t
last long. I mean, it was like, Going home?
Whaf s that?"'
He was released wit-hout drarge. sraight inru
his sohcitor's arms, and shc€ that moment h€
has heardnothine{rom the British government.
tr ;s unlikelv he will be able tosuccessfrilv sue
i t e i t i e r H i s o l dp a r t s o f h i s s t o r y l o a t a b l o i L
newspaper and a TV company when he was
released.bur reses *nt now He say" he hardll
hnew what hiihim when he walked offth'
11
rEanro
umnzrre
os.oe.oltne