The stories of Guantánamo detainees, silenced and imprisoned without
trial, as told by their lawyers
Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the United States imprisoned
more than seven hundred and fifty men at its naval base at Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba. These men, ranging from teenage boys to men in their eighties
from over forty different countries, were detained for years without
charges, trial, and a fair hearing. Without any legal status or
protection, they were truly outside the law: imprisoned in secret,
denied communication with their families, and subjected to extreme
isolation, physical and mental abuse, and, in some instances, torture.
These are the detainees' stories, told by their lawyers because the
prisoners themselves were silenced. It took habeas counsel more than two
years--and a ruling from the United States Supreme Court--to finally
gain the right to visit and talk to their clients at Guantánamo. Even
then, lawyers were forced to operate under severe restrictions designed
to inhibit communication and envelop the prison in secrecy. In time,
however, lawyers were able to meet with their clients and bring the
truth about Guantánamo to the world.
The Guantánamo Lawyers contains over one hundred personal narratives
from attorneys who have represented detainees held at "GTMO" as well as
at other overseas prisons, from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to secret
CIA jails or "black sites." Mark Denbeaux and Jonathan
Hafetz--themselves lawyers for detainees--collected stories that cover
virtually every facet of Guantánamo, and the litigation it sparked.
Together, these moving, powerful voices create a historical record of
Guantánamo's legal, human, and moral failings, and provide a window into
America's catastrophic effort to create a prison beyond the law.
An online archive, hosted by New York University Libraries, will be
available at the time of publication and will contain the complete texts
as well as other accounts contributed by Guantánamo lawyers. The
documents will be freely available on the Internet for research,
teaching, and non-commercial uses, and will be preserved indefinitely as
a historical collection.
Read free excerpts from the book at http: //www.theguantanamolawyers.com
and explore the complete archive of narratives at http:
//dlib.nyu.edu/guantanamo
