By Moazzam Begg
"Under the hood I felt I couldn't breathe properly,
it pulled in and out against my mouth and nose with every breath.
Flashing lights—obviously from soldiers' cameras taking
trophy pictures—came and went in front of me, despite the
hood's darkness. From beside me a voice said in Arabic,
'Shall we pray, brother?' A guard came and screamed in my
ear, 'Shut up, motherf**ker, if you speak again I'll kill
you.'"—from Enemy Combatant
Moazzam Begg was seized at midnight from a family home in
Pakistan in 2002. He was accused by the United States of being a
terrorist—an "enemy combatant"—and held for
more than three years, two of them at the notorious U.S.prison at
Guantánamo Bay.
Begg spent much of the time in solitary confinement, was
subjected to over 300 interrogations, and witnessed the killing
of two detainees before being released in 2005 without
explanation or apology. This amazing view from within the
prisoner's hood puts the United States' extralegal
detention system in the sharpest possible relief.
Hardcover, 397pp
