Guantánamo Diary is the personal memoir of Mohamedou Ould Slahi. He was born in Mauritania, a country in the northwest of Africa, in 1970. Arrested in 2001 by the U.S. military, he was suspected of having ties to al Qaeda, the terrorist organization. Because of the AUMF-AT enacted that same year designed to allow the military to employ more aggressive "military force" in its investigation of terrorism, Slahi was immediately sent to the government facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They transferred him to various prison facilities, questioned him, and tortured him during the investigations of several terror attacks, but ultimately he was found innocent of all charges.
Writing during his imprisonment, Slahi compiled the text of this book. In 2012 the diary was declassified by the U.S. government, allowing Slahi to publish it for posterity. He was still in prison at the time, not even allowed to own a copy of his own book. In 2016, Slahi was released and cleared of all charges. In the memoir he demonstrates emotional poise and clarity by never responding to the injustices served him with hate or violence. This phenomenon makes his narrative especially poignant, considering the extent of his subjugation during imprisonment.
