Guantanamo Diary

An unprecedented international publishing event: the first diary written by a Guantanamo detainee. Mohamed Ould Slahi is a citizen of Mauritania who was held in the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba from 2002 to 2016. For fourteen years, he was considered a suspect in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. After three years in captivity, Slahi began keeping a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared in US custody and the day-to-day life of a prisoner. He learned English while in prison and wrote 466 pages of his diary by hand. His lawyers gave the manuscript to journalist Larry Sims, who edited the book. Every page had to be submitted to military censors. For several years, the book was banned from publication by American officials. The memoir was published in 2015 while Slahi was still being held without charge.