Laura Poitras

Lakhdar Boumediene

Published on the occasion of the the exhibition "Laura Poitras: Astro Noise," at the Whitney Museum of American Art, February 5 - May 15, 2016.

A Survival Guide for Living Under Total Surveillance

Astro Noise

Mustafa Ait Idir

This searing memoir shares the trauma and triumphs of Lakhdar Boumediene and Mustafa Ait Idir's time inside America's most notorious prison. Lakhdar and Mustafa were living quiet, peaceful lives in Bosnia when, in October 2001, they were arrested and accused of participating in a terrorist plot. After a three-month investigation uncovered no evidence, all charges were dropped and Bosnian courts ordered their freedom. However, under intense U.S. pressure, Bosnian officials turned them over to American soldiers. They were flown blindfolded and shackled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they were held in outdoor cages for weeks as the now-infamous military prison was built around them. Guantanamo became their home for the next seven years. They endured torture and harassment and force-feedings and beatings, all the while not knowing if they would ever see their families again. They had no opportunity to argue their innocence until 2008, when the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in their case, Boumediene v. Bush, confirming Guantanamo detainees' constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court. Weeks later, the George W. Bush-appointed federal judge who heard their case, stunned by the absence of evidence against them, ordered their release. Now living in Europe and rebuilding their lives, Lakhdar and Mustafa are finally free to share a story that every American ought to know. Learn more at witnessesbook.com or donate to a crowdsourced restitution fund at GoFundMe.com/witnesses.

Seven Years in Guantanamo

Witnesses of the Unseen

This searing memoir describes the harrowing ordeal of two men and their seven-year imprisonment in Guantanamo. Before, they lived quiet, peaceful lives--working for humanitarian organizations, raising young children, filling weekend afternoons with pick-up soccer games and coffee with friends. But in October 2001, Lakhdar Boumediene and Mustafa Ait Idir, along with four other Algerian nationals, were arrested and accused of plotting to attack the American Embassy in Sarajevo: they came to be known as the "Algerian Six." Lakhdar and Mustafa were detained by the Bosnian police and then, after a Bosnian court ordered that they be set free, were "released" into the waiting arms of American special forces. They were then beaten, blindfolded, strip-searched, shackled, and flown to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were housed outdoors in steel mesh cages while the now-infamous military prison was built around them. For seven years, they each languished in captivity in subhuman conditions, enduring torture and harassment, force-feedings and beatings, cut off from communication with their families. Neither was accused of a crime nor allowed to argue his innocence. Their accounts testify to the horrors wrought in Guantanamo in the name of the American people. Witnesses of the Unseen shares the story of their lives, giving an insider's look at the plaintiffs behind the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Boumediene v. Bush, which allowed Guantanamo detainees the constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court. After years of brutal mistreatment, casual violence, and finally the pro bono assistance of an American law firm, Lakhdar and Mustafa were able to secure their release. Their stories reveal the integrity and resilience of spirit that sustained these two men in the face of unrelenting hardship. In these pages, Lakhdar and Mustafa share their trauma in the hope that what happened to them does not happen to innocent people in the future, especially under a flag that stands for liberty and justice.

This searing memoir shares the trauma and triumphs of Lakhdar Boumediene and Mustafa Ait Idir's time inside America's most notorious prison. Lakhdar and Mustafa were living quiet, peaceful lives in Bosnia when, in October 2001, they were arrested and accused of participating in a terrorist plot. After a three-month investigation uncovered no evidence, all charges were dropped and Bosnian courts ordered their freedom. However, under intense U.S. pressure, Bosnian officials turned them over to American soldiers. They were flown blindfolded and shackled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they were held in outdoor cages for weeks as the now-infamous military prison was built around them. Guantanamo became their home for the next seven years. They endured torture and harassment and force-feedings and beatings, all the while not knowing if they would ever see their families again. They had no opportunity to argue their innocence until 2008, when the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in their case, Boumediene v. Bush, confirming Guantanamo detainees' constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court. Weeks later, the George W. Bush–appointed federal judge who heard their case, stunned by the absence of evidence against them, ordered their release. Now living in Europe and rebuilding their lives, Lakhdar and Mustafa are finally free to share a story that every American ought to know. Learn more at witnessesbook.com or donate to a crowdsourced restitution fund at GoFundMe.com/witnesses.

Lakhdar Boumediene

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