30/06/2006
Former Guantanamo prisoners speak about their time in detention. Although being treated disrespectfully and beaten badly, it was ok, we survived, was all they could say.
Khan Zaman, 45, is free after spending more than 4 years in U.S detention in Guantanamo. He said he had done nothing wrong but was arrested after 12 members of his house were killed in U.S. bombing. Zaman expected not to be jailed for that long time "When I was arrested I thought they would release me soon, maybe after 10 or 20 days because I was innocent but unfortunately I spent a very long and hard time in the jail…It was OK, we survived" is all he would say of his time in Guantanamo. Zaman now prays regularly at the graves of his family member, killed in the U.S airstrike in Zanakhil village, in the southeastern province of Khost. Another former Guantanamo detainee is Sher Bad Khan, who spent two years in detention, first in Bagram and Guantanamo. He said he was in the latter for more than a year. He was freed just four months ago. He is not happy with the way he and other prisoners were treated in the facility. Sher Bad Khan said "There was no respect for human beings in Guantanamo, they don't treat the prisoners as a human being, we were inside a cage. During interrogation we were treated very badly, they were beating, slapping, and punishing us. They had no respect for human beings at all." Khan says the prisoners should be handed over to the Afghan authorities in order for them to determine whether they are guilty or not. For him, being in jail here is a lot easier than Guantanamo with no destiny.
SOURCE: AlManar.com |
