Review
In
My Guantanamo Diary, author Mahvish Rukhsana Khan,
daughter of Afghan immigrants, takes the reader into the
lives of the detainees of Guantanamo Bay. As an interpreter
and part of the law team for the detainees, the author's
point of view is one of a fact finder, but as she speaks and
gets to know the prisoners, it turns into one of sympathetic
listener, confidant and friend.
Habeas corpus is the law under which detainees can petition
for relief of unlawful imprisonment. The legal teams that
represent the prisoners are referred to in the book as
habeas counsel. The habeas counsel encountered many hurdles
in gaining access and time to defend their clients. On
occasion, they were made to stand and wait outside in the
full sun for up to two hours before being allowed in to...
Beyond the Book
Afghan Culture and Customs
Afghanistan's 33 million
people are made up of more
than twenty
ethnic groups with their own distinctive languages and
cultural mores. The largest and most dominant of these groups,
politically and economically, are the Pashtuns (42% of the
population), The second most populous group are the Tajiks
(27%). Smaller groups include the Hazaras, the Aymaqs, the
Uzbeks and the Turkmen. Pashto and Dari (Persian) are the
two official languages of the country.
There are various Afghan
dwelling styles. Rural
people tend to live in homes made of sun-dried bricks, city
dwellers live in homes made of baked bricks, concrete or
both. Some...
