{"id":8009,"date":"2017-10-13T12:31:09","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T16:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/?p=8009"},"modified":"2020-12-04T10:35:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T10:35:47","slug":"ahmed-rabbani-dear-president-trump-close-guantanamo-bay-give-us-fair-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/us\/2017\/10\/13\/ahmed-rabbani-dear-president-trump-close-guantanamo-bay-give-us-fair-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahmed Rabbani: Dear President Trump, close Guantanamo Bay and give us a fair trial."},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a taxi driver from Karachi, in Pakistan. Fifteen years ago I was sold for a bounty and taken by the U.S. military to a secret prison in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

They mistook me for someone called Hassan Gul, and I was tortured for over a year before they flew me to Guantanamo. There\u2019s no disputing this\u2014it\u2019s in the U.S. Senate report on torture. I\u2019ve been held here ever since then, without charge or trial.<\/p>\n

In May 2013, without any way of defending myself or securing my freedom, I resorted to peaceful protest, and began a hunger strike.<\/p>\n

The authorities immediately instituted rules to deal with me and others. If you lost over a fifth of your weight, they would tube-feed you, by force and in a painful way.<\/p>\n

Now, on September 20, things abruptly changed.<\/p>\n

A new senior medical officer arrived, bringing in a new Trump administration policy of refusing to tube-feed anyone on hunger strike. They apparently don\u2019t mind if people die because of the injustice here, because they figure nobody cares about Guantan\u00e1mo anymore, and nobody will notice.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lost more weight than ever before\u2014I\u2019m well under 100 pounds – but they have stopped bringing anyone to check my vitals, weigh me, or force-feed me. They want this peaceful protest over. So they refuse us access to medical care.<\/p>\n

They tell me it\u2019s my fault if I die. But all I am asking for is basic justice\u2014a fair trial or freedom. I don’t want to die, but they will not succeed in breaking my strike. I will not stop demanding justice.<\/p>\n

I have a message for President Trump. He is a businessman. The government doesn\u2019t have a case against any of us. Instead of wasting $11 million a year on each prisoner they hold on this island by killing us, why not bring us to court where we can defend ourselves?<\/p>\n

Then he can turn this place into a museum\u2014a place for others to visit, to learn about the awful mistakes of the past. Trump could even charge for entry and make money.<\/p>\n

Maybe I will die as a result of this hunger strike. Maybe I will lose my sight, and go blind\u2014even so, in here I have nothing to see. One thing is clear: that one day, the authorities at Guantanamo will be held responsible for what they have done.<\/p>\n

A longer version of this article was published on the Newsweek website, and is available here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m a taxi driver from Karachi, in Pakistan. Fifteen years ago I was sold for a bounty and taken by the U.S. military to a secret prison in Afghanistan. They mistook me for someone called Hassan Gul, and I was tortured for over a year before they flew me to Guantanamo. There\u2019s no disputing this\u2014it\u2019s … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-update"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAhmed Rabbani: Dear President Trump, close Guantanamo Bay and give us a fair trial.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reprieve.org\/us\/2017\/10\/13\/ahmed-rabbani-dear-president-trump-close-guantanamo-bay-give-us-fair-trial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ahmed Rabbani: Dear President Trump, close Guantanamo Bay and give us a fair trial.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m a taxi driver from Karachi, in Pakistan. 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