The Story Of Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a native Mauritanian, was suspected by the United States federal government of aiding in the 2000 Millennium bombing plot and giving aid to three suspects involved in the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks. He would be detained by federal authorities who then transferred him to the CIA in which he was sent to numerous 'black sites' where Slahi was brutally tortured and threatened to have his mother arrested. Slahi, for 14 years, was held at Guantanamo Bay prison without a single charge. As all his "confessions" were made while being a victim of the "enhanced interrogation program" authorized by secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, with the CIA acting as the judge, jury and even executioner. In 2010, US District Court Judge James Robertson granted the writ of habeas corpus and ordered Slahi's release due to the prosecutions inability to legitimately charge Slahi with being involved against any terrorist plots while he was a mujahid in Afghanistan in 1991.

While he was held in Guantanamo, Slahi wrote a memoir describing his experiences at the prison. It would be published in 2015, the book "Guantanamo Diary" was an international bestseller. Slahi would receive a Periodic Review Board review in June 2016, and on October 17th 2016, Slahi was freed and returned to Mauritania , however, the Mauritanian government has denied him a passport, allegedly under US pressure. In March 2021 a film, "The Mauritanian" directed by Kevin Macdonald was released which details the case of Slahi. The question now becomes, when will Slahi receive "justice' against the very people who afforded him none.