Guantánamo Diary (51 page)

*
Here and for the next several paragraphs, MOS appears to be recalling a previous conversation or conversations with one of his interrogators.

*
Earlier in the manuscript, MOS indicates that he received the first letter from his family on February 14, 2004.

*
This could be one of MOS’s guards, appearing unmasked for the first time.

†
“She” appears unredacted; this might be the businesslike female interrogator introduced at the beginning of the chapter.

*
Three Guantánamo-based personnel who were practicing Muslims were arrested in September 2003 and accused of carrying classified information out of the prison. MOS may be referring here specifically to army chaplain Captain James Yee, who was charged with five offenses including sedition and espionage, and Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, an Arabic-language translator who was charged with thirty-two counts ranging from espionage and aiding the enemy to delivering unauthorized food, including the dessert baklava, to detainees. The sedition and spying cases collapsed. All charges against Yee were eventually dropped, and he received an honorable discharge; al-Halabi pled guilty to four counts, including lying to investigators and disobeying orders, and received a “bad conduct” discharge. See, e.g., http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-05-16-yee-cover_x.htm; and http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-09-23-gitmo-airman_x.htm.

*
This might be referring to the Special Projects Team chief, “Captain Collins.” In April 2004, General Miller left Guantánamo to assume command of prison and interrogation operations in Iraq; it appears from this passage that the chief of MOS’s Special Projects Team was also reassigned to Iraq.

*
Possibly referring to General Miller’s era, which encompassed his “special interrogation.”

*
Press reports have identified a detainee who became neighbors with MOS as Tariq al-Sawah. A 2010
Washington Post
article indicated that MOS and al-Sawah occupied “a little fenced-in compound at the military prison, where they live a life of relative privilege—gardening, writing and painting.” In a 2013 interview with
Slate
, Col. Morris Davis, who served as chief prosecutor of the Guantánamo military commissions in 2005 and 2006, described meetings with both MOS and Sawah in the summer of 2006. “They’re in a unique environment: They’re inside the detention perimeter, there’s a big fence around the facility, and then they’re inside what they call the wire, which is another layer within that, so it’s a manpower-intensive effort to deal with two guys,” he said. Davis suggested in that interview that this living arrangement has remained unchanged. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032403135_pf.html; and http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2013/04/mohamedou_ould_slahi_s_guant_namo_memoirs_an_interview_with_colonel_morris.html.

*
The “her” appears unredacted. This section seems to introduce, and center on, a new female lead interrogator. See footnote
here
, citing records indicating that MOS had a female interrogator in late 2004.

*
It appears that the interrogator enlists a colleague to help with the theological discussion.

*
The Schmidt-Furlow report records that on December 11, 2004, “after months of cooperation with interrogators,” “the subject of the second special interrogation notified his interrogator that he had been ‘subject to torture’ by past interrogators during the months of July to October 2003.” A footnote elaborates: “He reported these allegations to an interrogator. The interrogator was a member of the interrogation team at the time of the report. The interrogator reported the allegations to her supervisor. Shortly after being advised of the alleged abuse, the supervisor interviewed the subject of the second special interrogation, with the interrogator present, regarding the allegations. Based on this interview, and notes taken by the interrogator, the supervisor prepared an 11 Dec 04 MFR addressed to JTF-GTMO JIG and ICE. The supervisor forwarded his MFT to the JTF-GTMO JIG. The JIG then forwarded the complaint to the JAG for processing IAW normal GTMO procedures for investigating allegations of abuse. The JAG by email on 22 Dec 04 tasked the JDOG, the JIG, and the JMG with a review of the complaint summarized in the Dec 04 MFR and directed them to provide any relevant information. The internal GTMO investigation was never completed.” Schmidt-Furlow, 22.

*
“Mr. X” appears here unredacted.

*
MOS completed this manuscript in the fall of 2005; the last page is signed and dated September 28, 2005. One of the largest Guantánamo hunger strikes started in August 2005 and extended through the end of the year. See, e.g., http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/politics/18gitmo.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0; and http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/multimedia/guantanamo-hungerstriketimeline.html.

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Diary and annotated diary copyright © 2015 by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Introduction and notes copyright © 2015 by Larry Siems

Cover design by Keith Hayes

Author photographs by the International Committee of the Red Cross (Slahi) and Donna F. Aceto (Siems)

Cover copyright © 2015 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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