Reprieve welcomes the release of its client Abdul Latif Nasser, who has been returned to his home country of Morocco after being held for nearly two decades without charge or trial at Guant\u00e1namo Bay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five years ago, in July 2016, he was cleared for release by unanimous decision of six US federal agencies, namely the departments of State, Homeland Security, Justice, Defense, plus the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the office of the Director of National Intelligence. Despite this decision, he was held for a further five years during Trump\u2019s presidency, which marked a radical change in the US government\u2019s position on the release of Guant\u00e1namo detainees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US rendered Abdul Latif to Guant\u00e1namo in May 2002, and in his 19 years at the prison he suffered myriad forms of torture and abuse. In his early years, Abdul Latif was held in solitary confinement, with the lights on 24 hours a day and loud music blared into his cell. He was unrepresented until 2007. Abdul Latif twice went on hunger strike twice to peacefully protest the conditions of his detention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While still detained at Guant\u00e1namo, Abdul Latif described to Reprieve what returning to Morocco meant to him, \u201cIt\u2019s been 25 years since I smelled Morocco. Things like the smell of mint. Or the sea. I have been here so long, able to hear and smell the ocean from my cell, but never able to set foot in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n