First Statement by Bisher Al Rawi
Sunday April 1st:
I am delighted to be back home in England, with my family. After over
four years in Guantánamo Bay, my nightmare is finally at an
end.
As happy as I am to be home though, leaving my best friend Jamil El-Banna
behind in Guantánamo Bay makes my freedom bittersweet. Jamil
was arrested with me in the Gambia on exactly the same unfounded allegations,
yet he is still a prisoner. He is the father of five young children,
the eldest of whom is ten. He has never seen his youngest daughter
who is nearly five years old. He too should be released and reunited
with his family.
I also feel great sorrow for the other nine British residents who
remain prisoners in Guantánamo Bay. Some are now on hunger
strike protesting against their extended solitary confinement. The
extreme isolation they are going through is one of the most profoundly
difficult things to endure. I know that all too well. The hopelessness
you feel in Guantánamo can hardly be described. You are asked
the same questions hundreds of times. Allegations are made against
you that are laughably untrue, but you have no chance to prove them
wrong. There is no trial, no fair legal process. I was alleged to
have participated in terrorist training in Bosnia and Afghanistan.
I've never been to Bosnia and the only time I visited Afghanistan
was thanks to the hospitality of the CIA in an underground prison
- the Dark Prison - outside Kabul.
But now, finally, I am back home.
I want to thank everyone who campaigned tirelessly for both me and
Jamil during this long saga of misery, suffering and injustice, a
saga in which Jamil still finds himself enmeshed. My overwhelming
feelings of gratitude and thanks extend to an extremely large number
of people. I would love to mention them all by name, but that would
make this statement among the longest on the record. However, there
are individuals whose names are imprinted in my mind and heart whom
I cannot but mention today.
I would like to start with thanking my family, who have suffered greatly
with me throughout. The late Mark Jennings, a person whom I wished
very much to meet and thank in person but it was not to be, and his
wife Celia to whom I extend my hand in friendship for a lifetime.
My British lawyer Gareth Peirce whom I consider to be the best in
her field, together with Irene Nembhard and all those at Birnberg
Peirce who were on this case helping us from day one. My American
lawyer Brent Mickum who got on this case very early on, despite the
overwhelming difficulties, restrictions and complexities imposed by
the American regime. Clive Stafford Smith and Zachary Katznelson whose
visits to Guantánamo were a lifeline for me and meant so much,
and of course all those with them at Reprieve. My MP Edward Davey,
who took on what seemed to be an impossible mission, facing high walls
of bureaucracy and doors that refused to be opened. It was a task
very few people would have volunteered to take on. Sarah Teather,
my best friend Jamil's MP, who is continuing to push for Jamil's release
and his long-overdue reunion with his wife and children. Victoria
Brittain, a name I will always remember and to whom both Jamil and
I feel extremely indebted.
I would like to thank Amnesty International and all those there whose
good work through out the world is a blooming flower of hope. I sincerely
believe that without Amnesty's immediate intervention in our case
during those extremely difficult first days after our arrest in The
Gambia, we probably would have been goners. I have to also thank all
the other humanitarian groups who have stood up against the injustices
in Guantánamo Bay and other places, who have kept the pressure
on the U.S. government, and helped as much as possible under these
difficult circumstances. All the good people in this country and elsewhere
who have supported us in various ways, including the many many who
have written letters to both me and Jamil in support and solidarity.
Among these, I should mention especially the young boys and girls
whose words were most heart-warming - and whose hand-writing was much
nicer and more legible than mine! My friends in the UK of all backgrounds
who have tolerated me and my many shortcomings for years, starting
from a long time before Guantánamo Bay, and whose memories
I had on replay throughout my imprisonment. My friends at Guantánamo
Bay who were my family, and meant everything to me, in that strange
and wearied land.
I couldn't but feel happiness, though together with a great deal of
embarrassment, when I read my name in debate transcripts and speeches
in Parliament. I thank the MPs for their interest and concern in what
took place and continues to take place in Guantánamo Bay. Staying
on the political side but a bit further away from home, I would like
to thank the European Parliament for keeping things a bit more sane
than would have been.
I want to thank the officials at the British Embassy in Washington,
D.C., who worked extremely hard to secure my release, together with
all the extremely nice and welcoming guys who brought me back home
aboard the really lavish flight (no expense spared). You made me feel
comfortable and welcomed. I thank you for that.
Finally I would like to express my gratitude to the media. This experience
made me understand better your role in making the wheel of life turn.
Please don't make me bite my tongue!
I ask that you please allow me some time with my family to come to
terms with the horrific experience I have had. But, I hope everyone
who believes in justice and the rule of law will join with me to work
for the release of Jamil and the other British residents. They have
been unjustly imprisoned for over 4 years without charge or trial.
They too should come home.
Thank you.