Guantanamo Prisoner Tells his Story

During the past year, hundreds of prisoners who were being held by American forces at Guantanamo Prison were let free. Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan were happy to see a large number of their citizen home. However, being the least lucky among all prisoners, only a handful of Yemeni prisoners were let free, and over one hundred still remain. Karama Khamis Saeed was one of the lucky ones who left the prison. Since leaving the prison he has fought bravely to insure that the remaining Yemeni citizens come back to their country. Here the Yemen Post meets with the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner as he discloses what he went through.

The interview was conducted by Abdul Rahim Al-Showthabi of the Yemen Post.

Yemen Post: How did you end up in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp?

Saeed: Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, I was asked by some one to go to Pakistan along with a four-member team to buy a shipment. When I was planning to prove my eligibility before the employer, I agreed to go. At the start, the four people and I traveled to Pakistan. We obtained visas for Afghanistan and crossed into Kandahar.  Later, we returned to Pakistan. The moment we arrived in Pakistan, I was arrested by Pakistani authorities. Four months later, I was handed in to the American authorities who took me to Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base and I remained there for three months. There were the worst days in my lifetime. I was severely physically tortured and police dogs were brought to terrorize me. I was withheld in a cage within a freezing aircraft. We suffered form hunger because the frozen food given to us was insufficient. By the end of the three months, I was taken to Kandahar and then transferred to Guantanamo in chains. I was a victim of a drug gang who cheated me to travel with them to Pakistan to buy a shipment.

YP: How long was the journey to Guantanamo?

Saeed: The journey to Guantanamo Prison Bay took nearly 25 hours. We were in chains our eyes were tied; we couldn’t see anything until we were in the prison.

YP: What kind of torture were you subjected to?

Saeed: When I was in Kandahar, the American soldiers forced me to confess my links to Al-Qaeda. While investigating me, I went through hard times and I don’t want to remember or talk about it. 

YP: Did they ask you to be a spy?

Saeed: Yes, they did. But how can I spy for them if I had no information. Some of the prisoners who were with the Taliban are really pressured and continuously asked to spy. However in my case, they eventually understood that I was of no value to them, and that is why they let me free.

YP: Did they suspect you to be a spy for a specific group or country?

Saeed: They said that I was an agent to the Saudi Kingdom. They also forced me to confess that I am  anAl-Qaeda member or a Yemeni spy. Moreover, they accused me of being anti-American and against the U.S. government and that I was fighting against them. I am innocent and I never participated in any fighting nor carried a gun.

YP: Did you think that they would kill you?

Saeed: Of course Yes, I thought they would kill me under their cruel treatment. If they did kill me, people or family members would not have the opportunity to defend me because the way of death would be unknown to them. The Americans can just make up a theory that I died a natural death, or that I committed suicide. 

YP: What kind of torture did you receive while you were detained in Kandahar?

Saeed: Beating and harassment. We were also asked to stand in difficult ways, which caused us to have weeks of ongoing pain, even after we were beat by them. 

YP: Were you sexually harassed?

Saeed: It is something that I can’t tell. Still, from my inmates’ insinuations, I guess they were sexually harassed. It is known that the American security forces would do anything to make us talk, but we did not talk because we had nothing to hide or to tell them. 

YP: Can you mention some of those who told you that they were sexually harassed?

Saeed: It is not right to mention them. One day they will be out of the prison and if they wish to tell their story than they are free, but personally I can’t talk for them.

YP: After leaving Kandahar, what kind of punishment did you received in Guantanamo Prison Bay?

Saeed: It was no different from the torture of Bagram or Kandahar including sexual abuse. Still, there were some other new torture techniques like psychological torture, beatings by riot forces, teargas, forcing one’s face into bath hole, and desecration of the Holy Quran among other ways that were used to torture us.

YP: When you talk of torture and what you went through, i can see your body shakes, why is that?

Saeed: I don’t know exactly the reason behind it, but I think it is produced because as I talk and explain to you what happened, the abuses I had when at Guantanamo come back to me like a scary nightmare.

YP: what kind of food was given there?

Saeed: Animals’ food. The food we ate was not even good enough for animals. Personally, I think they did it on purpose to show us that if we do not cooperate with them than we will be treated badly. However, if one became a spy he would eventually be treated better.

YP: Can you explain the food that was given to you?

Saeed: It was something like the food given to animals worldwide. In no way were we treated like humans by the nation that considers its self a role model for human respect. 

YP: Were you allowed to contact anyone?

Saeed: No! It was impossible. we were not even allowed to talk to other prisoners, not to mention to family or friends. They thought that if we talked to other prisoners we would plan something against them. How would that be possible with our hands, legs, neck, and head tied or wrapped up.

YP: Were you ever allowed to sit together with other inmates?

Saeed: No, we were not. Our situation was something that you can’t imagine. I dont remember sitting with anyone during the years I spent there. It was like living in a place I never thought existed. I never thought humans could ever be cruel and unhumane. 

YP: Do you know why you left Guantanamo military prison?

Saeed: No, No, I do not know why I left. It came to me as a surprise. Those who enter, only dream to come back home to loved ones, and thank god I was one of the rare you came home. My brothers are still there suffering, and I need to halp them leave the prison. 

YP: How did the Yemeni government treat you upon arrival?

Saeed: I thought that our officials would treat us like other countries’ treat their inmates who were sent home directly. However, I was sent to prison. that caused more pain to my already wounded soul. 

YP: What kind of pain did those officials added to you?

Saeed: The investigators arrested me upon arrival and took me to the Criminal Investigation’s office. They hit me against the wall and kicked me numerous times until I felt unconscious. They also cursed me. While they were abusing me, I felt that my sufferings would never come to an end.

YP: What kind of curse was said to you? Can you mention it?

Saeed: They said to me that the Americans played with me and sexually abused me in different ways, so how can i consider myself a man. 

YP: How long did you stay there?

Saeed: I stayed there for four days, and then I was sent to the Political Security’s Prison where I spent 10 days.

YP: Did they suspect you of working for a specific side or group?

Saeed: They charged me of being an American CIA agent. 

YP: Did they punish you?

Saeed: They only prevented us from performing prayers, especially dawn prayer because they did not want prisoners to wake up the soldiers.

YP: Do you feel that you have indulged in society as a normal citizen, and do you receive any negative approaches by others?

Saeed: The Yemeni society knows our situation more than do the government and officials. All the people I met showed sympathy with me and expressed their sorrow over our troubles. People of Yemen understand that we are not terrorists.  

YP: Are you being followed by secret agents?

Saeed: I cannot say so. I know myself. I am not linked to any terrorist group and I am innocent of the charges they imputed on me. That is what is important to me.