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A place outside the law : forgotten voices from Guantanamo / Peter Jan Honigsberg.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Boston : Beacon Press, [2019]Description: xi, 281 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780807026984
  • 0807026980
Subject(s):
Contents:
A place outside the law -- Coming to America -- Right side of things -- China's shadow -- Lawlessness -- Undermining heroes -- Faux law -- Warrior journalist -- Expected and unexpected consequences : changes and transformations -- Facebook friends -- Convert -- Flight -- Flight -- From pride to shame -- Paying respect -- For his son -- Guantanamo saved my life -- Timmy -- Half-full -- Being up close to torture -- The empty chair -- Human rights forsaken -- Blindsided -- The pain inside -- Alone -- We tortured him -- Castaways -- Drones -- Looking forward and looking back -- Rising above -- Kuwaiti escorts.
Summary: Honigsberg conducted 158 interviews across 20 countries so that the people who lived and worked there could tell their heartbreaking and inspirational stories. In each one, we face the reality that the healing process cannot begin until we start the conversation about what was done in the name of protecting our country. These are a few of them. Many alleged operatives in Guantánamo were purchased by the United States for ransom from Afghan and Pakistani soldiers. Brandon Neely, a prison guard who processed the first group of suspected operatives to arrive in Cuba, flew to London to embrace the detainees he guarded after leaving the military. Navy whistleblower Matt Diaz covertly released the names of 500 detainees by sending them in a greeting card to a lawyer in New York. Journalist Carol Rosenberg committed the past 17 years of her career to documenting life at Guantánamo. And Damien Corsetti, an interrogator who came to be known as the "King of Torture," received ribbons and awards for the same cruel actions for which he was later prosecuted.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 355.1296 H773 Available 33111009561388
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Law scholar and "Witness to Guantanamo" founder Peter Jan Honigsberg uncovers a haunting portrait of life at Guantanamo Bay detention center, using 158 interviews he conducted across 20 countries with former detainees and their families, prison guards, interrogators, interpreters, chaplains, medical personnel, lawyers, and high-ranking military officials.

Since the September 11th attacks, approximately 780 men of Arab descent have been detained at Guantanamo Bay as part of America's ill-fated War on Terror. Forty-one prisoners remained. Many of them have been tortured, and they will likely die there without receiving a trial.

Through the stories Honigsberg captures, he introduces readers to an unforgettable cast of characters. There is Ayub Muhammed, who was kidnapped and sold to the American military as a "Taliban operative" at the age of sixteen. Brandon Neely, a prison guard who processed the first group of suspected operatives to arrive in Cuba. Matt Diaz, a Navy whistleblower who covertly released the names of 500 detainees by sending them in a greeting card to a lawyer in New York. Carol Rosenberg, a journalist who has committed the past ten years of her career to documenting life at Guantanamo. And many, many more, including Damien Corsetti, an interrogator who came to be known as the "King of Torture."

In startling, aching prose, Straying from Honor shines a light on these untold stories, and through them, provides a powerful testament to the consequences of unchecked state power.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

A place outside the law -- Coming to America -- Right side of things -- China's shadow -- Lawlessness -- Undermining heroes -- Faux law -- Warrior journalist -- Expected and unexpected consequences : changes and transformations -- Facebook friends -- Convert -- Flight -- Flight -- From pride to shame -- Paying respect -- For his son -- Guantanamo saved my life -- Timmy -- Half-full -- Being up close to torture -- The empty chair -- Human rights forsaken -- Blindsided -- The pain inside -- Alone -- We tortured him -- Castaways -- Drones -- Looking forward and looking back -- Rising above -- Kuwaiti escorts.

Honigsberg conducted 158 interviews across 20 countries so that the people who lived and worked there could tell their heartbreaking and inspirational stories. In each one, we face the reality that the healing process cannot begin until we start the conversation about what was done in the name of protecting our country. These are a few of them. Many alleged operatives in Guantánamo were purchased by the United States for ransom from Afghan and Pakistani soldiers. Brandon Neely, a prison guard who processed the first group of suspected operatives to arrive in Cuba, flew to London to embrace the detainees he guarded after leaving the military. Navy whistleblower Matt Diaz covertly released the names of 500 detainees by sending them in a greeting card to a lawyer in New York. Journalist Carol Rosenberg committed the past 17 years of her career to documenting life at Guantánamo. And Damien Corsetti, an interrogator who came to be known as the "King of Torture," received ribbons and awards for the same cruel actions for which he was later prosecuted.

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