Guantánamo Diary

The first and only diary written by a Guantanamo detainee during his imprisonment, now with previous censored material restored.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay in 2002.

There he suffered the worst of what the prison had to offer, including months of sensory deprivation, torture and sexual assault.

In October 2016 he was released without charge. This is his extraordinary story.

“A vision of hell, beyond Orwell, beyond Kafka”

An extraordinary account . . . the global war on terror has found in a Mauritanian captive its true and complete witness Guardian
-- JOHN LE CARRÉ
Unnerving yet ultimately magnificent . . . there is something special about Guantánamo Diary that lifts it from human rights polemic to the realm of literary magic Sunday Times
The work is a kind of dark masterpiece, a sometimes unbearable epic of pain, anguish and bitter humour New York Times
Heartbreaking . . . there has never been a book quite like this . . . extraordinary and overwhelming New Statesman
This Guantánamo detainee's harrowing memoir is a tremendous achievement - and a grave warning against ignoring the rule of law Observer
This is a necessary book. It reminds us that the evil we're fighting can be found in ourselves as well as our enemies Daily Telegraph
A sobering, often chilling, read. Slahi's story deserves to be widely read Independent
Slahi's book offers a reminders that the struggles we face in these difficult times involve real individuals, not faceless creatures who are to be characterised as members as one or other hated group. That he has resorted to words, the mightiest of weapons, even as his incarceration continues, makes his experience all the more relevant today Financial Times
A harrowing account of [Mohamedou Ould Slahi's] detention, interrogation, and abuse . . . One of the most stubborn, deliberate and cruel Guantánamo interrogations on record Slate

Mohamedou Ould Slahi was born in Mauritania in 1970. He earned a scholarship to study engineering in Germany when he was 18, and lived and worked in Germany and briefly in Canada before returning to Mauritania in 2000. He was detained without charge in Guantanamo Bay in 2002, where he was repeatedly tortured. While in detention, he wrote the 466-page manuscript which was to become Guantanamo Diary, which became an international bestseller. After fourteen years, Slahi was finally released in October 2016.

Larry Siems directed the Freedom to Write and International Programs at PEN American Center, where he led PEN's ongoing efforts to defend writers facing persecution around the world and protect freedom of expression in the US. He left at the end of 2013 to concentrate on editing Slahi's memoir. He is the author of The Torture Report and is a poet and non-fiction writer.

The first and only diary written by a Guantanamo detainee during his imprisonment, now with previously censored material restored and a new introduction from the author. The first and only diary written by a Guantanamo detainee during his imprisonment, now with previous censored material restored. Mohamedou Ould Slahi was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay in 2002. There he suffered the worst of what the prison had to offer, including months of sensory deprivation, torture and sexual assault. In October 2016 he was released without charge. This is his extraordinary story.

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