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Guantanamo Päevik (2000)

by Mahvish Rukhsana Khan(Favorite Author)

4.1 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

review 1: This is the first non-fiction book that I could complete and actually found more interesting than many of the fiction novels that I have read.I am so disgusted with the US government after reading this book. Although I knew that people were tortured at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, I had no idea that most of them had no evidence pointing to their involvement in any acts of terror. Many of them are innocent men sold out by rivals and other money-hungry men back home in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The kind of physical abuse and humiliation they have been put through is shocking and made me really angry. The US government classifies an 80 year man who can barely stand as an 'enemy combatant.'The author warns at the start of the book that some have called her 'naive' for believ... moreing the prisoners and for trying to portray the American government in a bad light. But I just cannot see it like that. I am so glad that this book was written and published and that everyone gets to read the truth about the American 'war on terror.' Yes, what happened on 9/11 was terrible and whoever was behind it ought to be punished severely for the number of innocent lives taken. But picking up people from the homes in the middle of the night, torturing them multiple times at several different places (Bagram, Kandahar and Guantanamo) and finally locking them up in a tiny cell without light, fresh air and human contact for months on end WITHOUT ANY CHARGES OR EVIDENCE is just not acceptable. This is really, really terrible.Lawyers aren't allowed to take in flowers, plastic spoons (with food, that thankfully is allowed) and even hair clips into the attorney-client meeting rooms. Recreation time for detainees means being locked alone in a cell with a ball to kick around.I really liked the end of the book - it was good to know that some of the men got to go home, back to their families that waited for them every day for years. Reading about them at home, with their children and families and living normal lives just makes their imprisonment (halfway across the globe) seem even worse. I hope all the men that are detained for absolutely no reason are released and get to go home soon. Kudos to the lawyers and attorneys and the Red Cross that take are really working hard for the cause of the detainees. I hope they are successful in helping the detainees get a fair trial and subsequently the chance to go home.
review 2: A young bilingual law student goes along with lawyers to interpret. She travels with them to Cuba to interview suspected Taliban participants. As an American, she is incensed that the men were jailed without being charged with a crime and having to endure many hardships. The book details some of these hardships. As an Afghan-American, she is upset that thier culture is being so disrespected by the holy Kuran being urinated on, men having menstrual blood spread on them,etc. She takes over 30 trips to Cuba. She travels to Afghanistan to collect evidence. As a bilingual person, I can see how not knowing the language and culture brings huge misunderstandings. Meanings are attributed to something that are often false. Riveting, kept me up to read it. Seemed ironic that I read a book about men who lost their rights as we were celebrating American Independence Day. less

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