Binyam Mohamed: I will fight for other prisoners

Former Guantanamo Bay inmate explains the legacy of his incarceration
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/binyam-mohamed-i-will-fight-for-other-prisoners-1779633.html

Binyam Mohamed, the former Guantanamo detainee, has reversed a decision to stay out of the public eye by signalling his determination to campaign for justice for prisoners at the American detention camp and highlight the lifelong effects of torture he suffered at the hands of his interrogators.

Six months after emerging as a frail and ghostly figure from the plane which brought him back to Britain from the US military prison in Cuba, Mr Mohamed last night used his first public speech since his release to explain the legacy of his seven years in detention, which he says included his "extraordinary rendition" to a prison in Morocco where his penis was repeatedly cut with a scalpel to force him to confess as an al-Qai'da terrorist.

The 31-year-old who was born in Ethiopia and came to Britain as a refugee at the age of 16, is one of 15 one-time terror suspects who have now made allegations that MI5 and MI6 colluded in their torture abroad. Mr Mohamed is suing the Government to prove that he was imprisoned and tortured with the full knowledge of the UK authorities and intelligence services.

(snip)
Upon his return to Britain, Mohamed gave a number of interviews about his treatment before removing himself from public view. But he now says the legacy of his torture and the situation of former US prisoners who are returned to developing countries without facilities to treat torture victims had persuaded to take a higher profile.

(snip)
The former detainee is one of several inmates who have joined the Guantanamo Justice Centre, a not-for- profit group which was launched this month to help former and current prisoners find work and secure medical treatment. "From my point of view," he said, "there's a mess that has been done and someone has to fix it."

I'm sure it would be easier not to. But he is a witness to what happened and slap in the face to Dick Cheney and his fellow torturers who continue to lie about what they did.

I hope he can overcome the horrible effects of the injustice that was done to him, but I imagine people rarely ever completely recover from torture. Maybe it will help him to help others, I hope so.