Naturalized Bosnian recalls Guantanamo

Bosnia-Herzegovina citizen Mustafa Ait Idir, who spent seven years at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, said that it is "the worst place in the world". Idir, who is a naturalized Bosnian citizen along with five other Algerians, was deported from Sarajevo to the American prison in Cuba in 2002, because he was allegedly involved in planning an attack on the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo. Naturalized Bosnian recalls Guantanamo Idir told the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation TV after returning to Sarajevo that “Guantanamo is a place that is worse than the worst places,” and that the food given to the prisoners “was so bad that not even animals would eat it”. “They tortured us physically and mentally. When we didn’t answer a question, they would send in soldiers to torture and beat us. Some prisoners that arrived wounded from Afghanistan to Guantanamo had their limbs amputated,” he said. He added that American soldiers first sprayed the prisoners with tear gas when putting them in their cells, "which was very painful". Idir said that he does not know why he was taken to Guantanamo and that investigators told him as soon as he arrived to “forget about the charges that brought him to the prison”. “They said that I was there to give them information about the Islamic organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Arabs that live in Bosnia and the embassies of Arab countries,” Idir said. He continued that he was interrogated over 500 times and that one of the worst forms of torture was when they put him naked in a room "where the temperature was minus 25 degrees centigrade". “I communicated with my family through letters, which arrived very late and had most of the words crossed out. You could only see two or three sentences,” he said. Asked whether he will be taking the American or Bosnia-Herzegovina government to court, he said that he is “bitter about his experience, but he would not be pressing charges". Idir revealed that he will stay with his family in Bosnia, where he will try to find a job, adding that he is "a computer specialist and karate coach". He said that he hopes the American government will close down Guantanamo and is certain that “God will judge those who committed evil deeds and ruined lives.” The naturalized Bosnian said that he was not in that the detention camp because he was cooperating with Osama Bin Laden, adding that the prison is a place "where Islam, and not Al-Qaeda, is hated". “They threw the Koran in the toilet and trampled on it in front of us,” described Idir.

Naturalized Bosnian recalls Guantanamo

Idir told the Bosnia-Herzegovina Federation TV after returning to Sarajevo that “Guantanamo is a place that is worse than the worst places,” and that the food given to the prisoners “was so bad that not even animals would eat it”.

“They tortured us physically and mentally. When we didn’t answer a question, they would send in soldiers to torture and beat us. Some prisoners that arrived wounded from Afghanistan to Guantanamo had their limbs amputated,” he said.

He added that American soldiers first sprayed the prisoners with tear gas when putting them in their cells, "which was very painful".

Idir said that he does not know why he was taken to Guantanamo and that investigators told him as soon as he arrived to “forget about the charges that brought him to the prison”.

“They said that I was there to give them information about the Islamic organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Arabs that live in Bosnia and the embassies of Arab countries,” Idir said.

He continued that he was interrogated over 500 times and that one of the worst forms of torture was when they put him naked in a room "where the temperature was minus 25 degrees centigrade".

“I communicated with my family through letters, which arrived very late and had most of the words crossed out. You could only see two or three sentences,” he said.

Asked whether he will be taking the American or Bosnia-Herzegovina government to court, he said that he is “bitter about his experience, but he would not be pressing charges".

Idir revealed that he will stay with his family in Bosnia, where he will try to find a job, adding that he is "a computer specialist and karate coach".

He said that he hopes the American government will close down Guantanamo and is certain that “God will judge those who committed evil deeds and ruined lives.”

The naturalized Bosnian said that he was not in that the detention camp because he was cooperating with Osama Bin Laden, adding that the prison is a place "where Islam, and not Al-Qaeda, is hated".

“They threw the Koran in the toilet and trampled on it in front of us,” described Idir.