Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Larry Siems

An epic story of a Bedouin family’s survival and legacy amid their changing world in the unforgiving Sahara Desert. Ahmed is a camel herder, as his father was before him and as his young son Abdullahi will be after him. The days of Ahmed and the other families in their nomadic freeg are ruled by the rhythms of changing seasons, the needs of his beloved camel herd, and the rich legends and stories that link his life to centuries of tradition. But Ahmed’s world is threatened—by the French colonizers just beyond the horizon, the urbanization of the modern world, and a drought more deadly than any his people have known. At first, Ahmed attempts to ignore these forces by concentrating on the ancient routines of herding life. But these routines are broken when a precious camel named Zarga goes missing. Saddling his trusted Laamesh, praying at the appointed hours, and singing the songs of his fathers for strength, Ahmed sets off to recover Zarga on a perilous journey that will bring him face to face with the best and the worst of humanity and test every facet of his Bedouin desert survival skills.

The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga

Sometimes the truth is buried in front of us. That is the case with more than 140,000 government documents relating to abuse of prisoners by U.S. forces during the "war on terror," brought to light by Freedom of Information Act litigation. As the lead author of the ACLU's report on these documents, Larry Siems is in a unique position to chronicle who did what, to whom and when. This book, written with the pace and intensity of a thriller, serves as a tragic reminder of what happens when commitments to law, common sense, and human dignity are cast aside, when it becomes difficult to discern the difference between two groups intent on perpetrating extreme violence on their fellow human beings.Divided into three sections, The Torture Report presents a stunning array of eyewitness and first-person reportsby victims, perpetrators, dissenters, and investigatorsof the CIA's White House-orchestrated interrogations in illegal, secret prisons around the world; the Pentagon's "special projects," in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; plots real and imagined, and much more.

The Torture Report

Previously published as Guantánamo Diary, this momentous account and international bestseller is soon to be a major motion picture The first and only diary written by a Guantánamo detainee during his imprisonment, now with previously censored material restored. Mohamedou Ould Slahi was imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay in 2002. There he suffered the worst of what the prison had to offer, including months of sensory deprivation, torture and sexual assault. In October 2016 he was released without charge. This is his extraordinary story, as inspiring as it is enraging.

The Mauritanian

In the continuing U.S. debate over illegal immigration, a human face has rarely been shown. The topic has been presented as a monolithic abstraction, a creation of statistics, political rhetoric, and fear. This collection of letters between undocumented immigrants in California and their families back home reveals the other side of the story. Published for the first time in paperback, Between the Lines reveals the often poignant human drama currently being played out along the U.S.-Mexico border. The letters, presented in Spanish and English, express powerful feelings of hope, uncertainty, and fear among the undocumented travelers as they arrive in the United States and seek work, social support and legal status. The letters from their families in Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador return feelings of hope, love, and support. Translator/editor Siems provides a powerful and lyrical introductory essay that sets the stage for the letters that follow.

Letters Between Undocumented Mexican and Central American Immigrants and Their Families and Friends

Between the Lines

"Dagbogen fra Guantánamo" er det første og eneste vidnesbyrd fra en indsat i Guantánamo-lejren. Da Mohamedou Ould Slahi blev sendt til fængslet i Guantánamo-lejren på Cuba i 2002 begyndte en endeløs række af forhør, total isolation og tortur. Årene gik, og i 2007 konkluderede FBI og CIA, at Slahi ikke kunne sættes i forbindelse med en terrorhandling. Den amerikanske regering ser alligevel ikke ud til at have planer om at løslade ham. USA har aldrig tiltalt ham for en forbrydelse. Han sidder stadig fængslet. Mohamedou Ould Slahi begyndte at fortælle sin historie i 2005. Under sit fangeskab håndskrev han sine memorier. Han færdiggjorde de 466 sider i 2006, og i de næste 6 år holdt den Amerikanske regering manuskriptet skjult. "Dagbogen fra Guantánamo" er et vidnesbyrd af historisk værdi. Den er en censureret udgave af Mohamedou Ould Slahis håndskrevne dagbog. Den amerikanske stat har censureret teksten med mere end 2500 sorte bjælker. Slahi har ikke fået mulighed for at deltage i processen. Dagbogen er ikke kun en levende beskrivelse af et justitsmord, men også et dybt personligt portræt af et menneske - fortalt med et overraskende overskud og sort humor. En gribende fortælling, som mest af alt virker som fiktion, men er den pureste sandhed.

Larry Siems

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