Life after Guantanamo

The ordeal of Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami Al- Haj has touched the Arab world. He has become an iconic figure and his release has demonstrated to all and sundry that the world's most powerful nation has committed a terrible blunder. Al-Haj was a professional media worker with no proven connections with Al-Qaeda. He was not put on trial and neither was he charged. Yet he languished in Guantanamo Bay, was tortured and nearly lost his life. The administration of United States President George W Bush cannot admit that, of course.

Al-Haj's brother Assem told Al-Ahram Weekly, "Sami is in high spirits, his morale is high even though his health is poor. He needs time to rest and recuperate to regain his strength. He has started to drink fluids, but it will take some time for him to eat solid food. It always takes time to recover from a shock, and Sami's was a shocking experience."

Sami Al-Haj is a familiar face to viewers of Al-Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular and influential satellite television channel. The outpouring of solidarity and congratulatory messages was overwhelming.

His is a complicated saga, with dramatic twists which took place in countries as far afield as East Africa, the Caucuses, the Arabian Gulf, South and Central Asia. By all accounts Al-Haj was driven by a determination to succeed in his chosen profession. He earned his keep through effort and ingenuity.

When few at Al-Jazeera wished to risk a stint in Afghanistan, Al-Haj jumped at the opportunity. His colleagues warned him that he was courting disaster. However, while being a journalist in Afghanistan was no picnic, his tribulations began in earnest when he was kidnapped and made to languish first in Kandahar and then in the infamous Guantanamo Bay.

"His memory is exceptionally sharp. He remembers minute details and in particular the worst moments of his prison experience in Guantanamo," Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Sudan Al-Kabbabshi told the Weekly.

Images of Sami Al-Haj embracing his eight- year-old son, Mohamed, were intensely moving. His wife, Asma, an Azerbaijani national, stood by her husband throughout their ordeal.

On 15 December 2001, Al-Haj was arrested by Pakistani security forces at the Chaman crossing point, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was detained along with Al-Jazeera reporter Abdel-Haq Sadah.

On 23 January 2002, the US military transferred Al-Haj to Kandahar and on 13 June, he was shipped to Guantanamo Bay.

Al-Haj says that he was deprived of sleep, and that he was subjected to cruel interrogation techniques. He suffers from rheumatism among other ailments but was denied medication and medical attention. During the past 16 months he went on a hunger strike in protest at his illegal detention. And, he says that he was force-fed by intravenous means.

Al-Haj's case highlights the flawed justice system at Guantanamo. The Military Commission's building at Guantanamo has emerged as a symbol of lawlessness and war crimes, where torture was the order of the day even for those who faced no charges of terrorism, material support or any other connection to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Another outrage is the ad hoc nature of military commissions there. Any suspects under US law should have recourse to federal courts. As for his day-to-day existence, Al- Haj endured the indignity of being confined to an eight by seven foot detention cell.

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