Al-Hajj's Heartbreaking Story of an Unjust Detention

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6358737.post-22261625608939422402008-05-03T09:04:00.000-07:002008-05-05T04:56:18.627-07:002008-05-05T04:56:18.627-07:00Al-Hajj's Heartbreaking Story of an Unjust DetentionKnown to the American government as "prisoner #345,"former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Sami Al-Hajj was re-acquainted with his son who he last saw 7 years ago when the boy was 9 months old. Frail and malnourished from the effects of torture and a 2 year hunger strike, Al-Hajj's weak body (strapped to an ambulance cot) was transported back to his country of origin, Sudan, and taken straight to a Khartoum hospital after he was released from gitmo. The Al-Jazeera journalist was captured by American forces while covering America's "war on terror" on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. He was detained at gitmo for 7 years without ANY charges brought against him! He described the lurid conditions of his detainment, "rats were treated with more humanity." Explicated in greater detail, is the heartbreaking story of Sami Al-Hajj's unjust detention at Guantanamo Bay as told by Al-Jazeera English: <object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UuJsCi_BiM0&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UuJsCi_BiM0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object> Interesting Facts about the Sami Al-Hajj case: <blockquote><ul><li>He explained that the reason for his detention was "to silence the work of free media."</li><li>According to Al-Hajj, detainees were banned from praying. </li><li>"Rats were treated with more respect," said Sami Al-Hajj of the conditions at gitmo. </li><li>He was interrogated 130 times. Roughly 125 times of those investigations have focused solely on Al Jazeera. According to his lawyer, Americans wanted Sami to say that Al-Jazeera was funded by Al-Qaeda. </li><li>Al-Hajj underwent a 2-year hunger strike. In response, American forces in gitmo force fed him with a feeding tube shoved down his throat. </li><li>He was the only journalist to be detained in Guantanamo Bay</li><li>US authorities invited him to spy on Al-Jazeera activities.</li></ul></blockquote>Maythahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00807786255484384743noreply@blogger.com