We weren't the only victims of Guantánamo: All Americans and America's values and justice system were as well.
My journey into the unknown started when I was sold to the CIA as an "Egyptian Al-Qaida general" in 2001 after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan. I was 18 years old, and I am from Yemen. After I was imprisoned for around three months in a black site in Afghanistan, I was taken to Kandahar military prison, an airbase that served as a transit station to the unknown. I wasn't the only one being held there.
Soldiers never seem to get tired of the beating and shouting. When the second flight ended, it was still not the end of the journey. The U.S. Marines snatched and dragged me onto a bus, and then onto a ferry. Where was I going? The first clue came from the sea, which was the first friend who welcomed me. A Marine shouted in English and an Arab Marine translated: "You are under the control of the U.S. Marines!" They continued to shout and physically assault us for the rest of the way.
At night, it took a while for my sight to come back, but it was still blurry. All I could see was an ocean of orange figures caged just like me, all I could hear were rattling chains, slamming doors, soldiers shouting in their loudest voice, "SHUT THE F**K UP, DON'T LOOK AT ME, LOOK DOWN, NO TALKING!" The dogs barking in the near distance sounded less aggressive than them. The barking never stopped.
Yes, we were isolated and disconnected from our families and the rest of the world, but even in America's dark hole, life won. We created our own world. Yes, we were tortured and abused, but we also sang, danced, resisted, and survived. Also, we soon found other generous guests at Guantánamo who came to visit us regularly, who challenged the U.S. restrictions and never had CIA clearance to visit. They came to share our meals, to listen to us, and to tell us that everything will be okay.
The cycle of hardship and the torture we endured forged strong bonds of brotherhood and friendship that helped us to survive. We started developing a new shared life and a new "us" at Guantánamo. Our brains started constructing new memories, relations, knowledge, and experiences, but everything related back to and was based on Guantánamo life.
In Guantánamo, I grew up, from a young boy to a caged man. My world was Guantánamo and it's where half of my life was taken, where days, months, and years were the same.
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