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Published Apr 2008
256 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
In October 2001, nineteen-year-old Murat Kurnaz traveled to Pakistan to visit a madrassa. During a security check a few weeks after his arrival, he was arrested without explanation and for a bounty of $3,000, the Pakistani police sold him to U.S. forces. He was first taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he was severely mistreated, and then two months later he was flown to Guantanamo as Prisoner #61. For more than 1,600 days, he was tortured and lived through hell. He was kept in a cage and endured daily interrogations, solitary confinement, and sleep deprivation. Finally, in August 2006, Kurnaz was released, with acknowledgment of his innocence.
"The most compassionate, truthful and dignified account of the disgrace of Guantanamo that you are ever likely to read." - John le Carré.
"Kurnaz recounts his woes, and those of his fellow prisoners, with modesty and compassion. . . . He has written a measured and readable account, which is often even humorous in a Swiftian sort of way." - The Economist.
"A vital document that should - rightly - shock and appall." — Kirkus Reviews.
""Like many of the men imprisoned in Guantánamo, Murat Kurnaz was held for years without proper charge or trial. After intensive campaigning by his friends, family and Amnesty International members all over the world, he was finally released. This book is a profound and detailed account of his experiences. After suffering torture and detention without trial, it is testament to great strength of character that he is able to tell his story with such power and clarity." - Kate Allen, Director, Amnesty International UK.
"This book is both impressive and oppressive and should be made required reading for our foreign minister and for all the people who stood in the way of this man's return." - Frankfurter Rundschau.
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