Dead Guantanamo Prisoner On Why He Gave Up on Life

[Whovian]

Adnan Latif was found dead in his cell on September 10th, 2012, just a day before the eleventh anniversary of 9/11. He was 32. Latif, a Yemeni citizen, had been detained at Guantanamo Bay for over a decade, despite a 2010 court ruling that ordered the Obama administration to "take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate Latif's release forthwith," due to lack of evidence that he had committed any crime. He suffered at the hands of the US government in ways that most people can't begin to comprehend, and his death should be a reminder that the national shame that is Guantanamo Bay lives on and now enjoys bipartisan support.

Reexamining a letter he wrote to his lawyer David Remes in December of 2010 shows the depths of his despair near the end of his life. His letter begins simply. The first paragraph is just one devastating sentence: "Do whatever you wish to do, the issue is over." He then goes on to describe Guantanamo as, "a prison that does not know humanity, and does not know [sic] except the language of power, oppression, and humiliation for whoever enters it."

"Anybody who is able to die," Latif writes, "will be able to achieve happiness for himself, he has no hope except that."

He continues:

"The requirement...is to leave this life which is no longer anymore [sic] called a life, instead it itself has become death and renewable torture. Ending it is a mercy and happiness for this soul. I will not allow any more of this and I will end it."

Rest of the story at http://truth-out.org/news/item/11551-dead-guantanamo-prisoner-on-why-he-gave-up-on-life#.UFUmKq7kOOs.facebook

[Bonobo]

1. What we have now is a kinder, gentler and more secret torture program...

with no recourse to the law.

[Smilo]

2. Bless him.....

we are proving to be so inhumane with regard to our treatment of others - if we believe they did something wrong then they should be tried quickly, efficiently, judicially and without prejudice.

The world is watching and we are found wanting.

[riderinthestorm]

3. But, but, but, but... pay no attention to that (dead) man behind the curtain

Remember?? This looks bad for Obama. Can't remind anyone that he participates in illegal extrajudicial actions that result in people's torture and death doncha know?

[BB1]

4. Meh.

Nobody wants to know. There are more important dead people elsewhere. Like Libya.

[Melissa G]

5. Thanks for posting

The US is shamed by this place.."a prison that does not know humanity, and does not know except the language of power, oppression, and humiliation for whoever enters it."

sad stuff indeed.

[Cleita]

12. Yes, it's pretty Third Reich.

Yet, Godwin doesn't want us talking about it.

[nanabugg]

6. The Rethugs would not allow GITMO to be closed.

[robinlynne]

8. This man could have been tried and released. you can not blame EVERYTHING on the GOP.

Gitmo has been under Dem watch for almost 4 years now.

[Cleita]

13. Exactly, but no one is going to close it unless

global warming floods it and it sinks into the Gulf.

[struggle4progress]

15. Congress actually closed off most options for trying GITMO detainees

[Luminous Animal]

17. He was cleared for release 4 or 5 times. One of those times in 2010.

[eqfan592]

7. Seriously one of the most heart-breaking things I've ever read.

How is this not a point of deep national shame for us? So many folks will never even know this happened.

[Nye Bevan]

9. It's horrible, but you won't get any traction with this issue 2 months before the election.

Hopefully when Obama wins and does not have to worry about being re-elected he will do the right thing.

[Bonobo]

14. "Hopefully when Obama wins and does not have to worry..."

Because Democracy is all about keeping quiet and hoping against hope that something will happen.

Always has been.

[Luminous Animal]

18. He could have done the right thing in 2010

[Vattel]

10. Obama won't repatriate Yemeni prisoners in Guantanamo because even if there is little evidence

that they were aiding terrorists, they might be recruited by terrorists once released in Yemen. I hope everyone here realizes how fucked up that is.

[Cleita]

19. We'll if they've been tortured and mistreated most likely they will.

However, it's still an assumption that it may happen, not necessarily will happen. IMHO so what if they rejoin the terrorists in Yemen. They are in Yemen, not here. We could put out a list of these ex-prisoners not allowing them back into the US on any kind of visa, ever, and under threat of arrest again if they even try to come in illegally. Somewhere we have to move on and disassociate our actions from those of the Bush administration and look to the future. What has happened in the past is not working and is causing unrest and war throughout the world. We need to grit our teeth and change even in the face of some perceived danger, whether real or just paranoid.

[Vattel]

21. I totally agree.

[Comrade Grumpy]

11. Guantamo is an abomination, a stain upon the nation.

We should be ashamed before the world.

[Solly Mack]

16. More blood.

[Wilms]

20. ^