
Mohamedou Ould Slahi, edited by Larry Siems
A harrowing, firsthand memoir of torture and resilience inside Guantánamo Bay by Mohamedou Ould Slahi.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi wrote the entire 466-page manuscript by hand in his Guantánamo cell over several months.
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Section 1
6 Sections
Imagine being torn from your home, stripped of all control, and thrust into a journey shrouded in secrecy and fear. The odyssey begins not with clarity but with chains, blindfolds, and the cold metal of shackles biting into flesh.
As the plane engines roar, the detainee’s mind drifts to family and past freedoms, conjuring memories to survive the present torment. The relentless physical constraints—hands chained in front, goggles blinding, and the indignity of a diaper—create a surreal nightmare.
Landing in Ramstein, Germany, a momentary flicker of familiarity sparks cautious optimism. Yet the journey is far from over. The detainee is shuffled through unknown facilities, subjected to humiliating procedures, and forced to navigate a labyrinth of foreign languages and harsh guards.
Yet even in this bleakness, moments of human connection emerge—a guard’s brief kindness, a shared joke, a whispered prayer. These fragments of humanity become lifelines, anchoring the detainee to hope and resilience.
This first chapter of the journey sets the stage for the trials ahead, illustrating the brutal mechanisms of control and the quiet strength of endurance. As the detainee arrives at Guantánamo Bay, the story transitions from a journey of movement to one of imprisonment, where the battle for survival takes on new dimensions.
Let us now move into the heart of captivity, where the walls close in and the fight for humanity begins anew.
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A gripping journey through the darkest corners of detention and the unbreakable human spirit.
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