It was an incredibly emotional experience to watch the tracker that followed the US Air Force C17 aircraft as it flew over the Atlantic and above the Straits of Gibraltar. On board was my Guantánamo client Ahmed Rabbani, who was finally returning home to Karachi after enduring 20 years of mistreatment in US custody. It all began on September 10, 2002, when Pakistani government officials collected a $5,000 bounty for handing Ahmed over to the US with a false story that he was a notorious terrorist known as Hassan Ghul. Instead of admitting they had wasted their money, the US took him to the Dark Prison in Afghanistan where he was subjected to 540 days of torture. Later, we discovered that the US had actually captured the real Hassan Ghul and brought him to the same prison, but then released him while sending Ahmed to Guantánamo.
Once in Cuba, Ahmed was compliant for a few years before he eventually lost patience. Other detainees were sent home, including Taliban leaders, but he – a self-described “nobody” – remained. In protest, he went on a hunger strike that lasted for seven years – a feat that should probably earn him a spot in the Guinness Book of Records. During this time, he was force-fed twice a day through his nose in an excruciatingly painful way (which has been condemned by the United Nations as a form of torture). This resulted in him losing more than half of his body weight.
Throughout his imprisonment, Ahmed was determined to make something of his time in the horrible prison. He took up painting and developed a true talent. After much pressure from the UN, he was allowed to take his artwork home and now we are making a special trip to Islamabad to pick it up. Twelve Pakistani artists have been inspired by his work and will join him for a show in Lahore in May.
Ahmed was eventually moved to the communal section of the prison, where he was permitted to cook for his fellow inmates – even while he was on his own hunger strike. We managed to get some of his recipes through the censors and have been helping him develop his Guantánamo Cook Book. Each dish is related to one of the 62 methods of torture he underwent, such as Rohingya Strappado Chicken which must be hung up for hours before cooking, similar to how he was suspended by the wrists in a deep hold in the Dark Prison.
The US military seemed determined to violate as many provisions of the UN Convention Against Torture as possible. At one point, we tried to negotiate his release if he would testify against some of the “high-value detainees”. He only agreed to meet with the FBI because they encouraged him that it was his only way out. However, Article 15 of the Convention Against Torture states that any statement made as a result of torture cannot be used as evidence in any proceedings. The US refused to honour their agreement to free him because Ahmed insisted that he had lied under torture and would not repeat those lies against his fellow men, even if it meant freedom for him.
The most heartbreaking part of Ahmed’s story is that he had never met or touched his son Jawad until Friday. He had married just before he was kidnapped and didn’t know his wife was pregnant. Jawad has since been inspired by Abraham Lincoln and others to pursue a career as a human rights lawyer. Now that Ahmed has left Guantánamo, the US military still plans to use his written statements as “reliable hearsay evidence” to secure a death sentence against another prisoner, Saudi citizen Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. We will do our best to stop them from doing so.
Ahmed believes the US should pay compensation for torturing him and stealing 20 years of his life. While we will try, it is likely a pipe dream. The best we can do is raise funds through our Crowdfunder campaign to help him resettle. Maybe one day he will open the Guantánamo Restaurant and hang his art on the walls.
The US initially claimed that Ahmed and the 778 other Guantánamo detainees were the “worst of the worst terrorists” in the world. To release him, US spy agencies had to agree that he posed no threat to the US or its coalition allies. Of the 32 who still remain in US custody, 16 have also been cleared – indicating an astonishing 98 percent error rate. This demonstrates how wrong the US has been in its assessment of these detainees and highlights its disregard for both law and human decency.
It is clear that Ahmed will face many challenges as he adjusts to life with a family he hardly knows. We can only hope that his story will inspire others who have suffered similar injustices and remind us all of the importance of upholding human rights and dignity.