THE STORY OF ABU ZUBAYDAH
Tortured brutally, imprisoned unlawfully. Detained without charges for nearly a quarter century. “Forever prisoner”.
Wrongfully detained for
8931 days
11 hrs
39 min
6 sec
This website shares the story of torture victim and Guantanamo detainee Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (Abu Zubaydah), his search for justice, and his art.
It is a call to action to help bring the lawlessness to an end, to #freeAbuZubaydah
In the aftermath of 9/11, the CIA established secret, offshore prisons called “black sites” where Muslim men were detained and tortured.
Abu Zubaydah was the first person cast into a black site and the first victim of the CIA torture program.
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In 2014, the bipartisan US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released its report on the torture scandal. Most of that report remains classified, but the unclassified Executive Summary refers to Abu Zubaydah 1001 times. According the report, Abu Zubaydah was tortured at multiple black sites around the globe; the United States refuses to acknowledge the torture, and insists euphemistically that he was subjected to “enhanced interrogations.”
In 2006, the CIA transferred Abu Zubaydah to Guantánamo Bay, a prison established on a US naval base in Cuba to detain people outside the protection of the US constitutional legal system. At its height, it held 779 detainees. Today, 15 Muslim men remain: some have been charged in the US military commission system, others have been cleared for release but remain in custody, and three — including Abu Zubaydah—are held indefinitely, without charge or trial. They are the “forever prisoners.”
Many legal decisions, including by the European Court of Human Rights and UN bodies, confirm atrocious – and ongoing – violations of Abu Zubaydah’s rights. He has been tortured, detained unlawfully and deprived of a right to life with dignity. This was made possible by the active collaboration of many states.
Abu Zubaydah’s artwork powerfully depicts his suffering at the hands of the CIA and at Guantánamo. It also reminds us of what the United States hopes we forget: that he is a human being. His drawings show what it meant to be, in the words of one FBI agent, the “guinea pig” for CIA torture, and his concern for the world beyond his cell.
Timeline
Follow the timeline of Abu Zubaydah’s detention, torture, and search for justice.
Abu Zubaydah was arrested by the CIA and Pakistani intelligence in March 2002. He was held and tortured by the CIA at black sites in Thailand, Poland, Lithuania, Morocco, and Afghanistan, always with the complicity of other states. He was transferred to Guantánamo Bay in 2006 where he languishes today without charge, trial or judicial review of the lawfulness of his detention.
Each year of his continuing detention without trial adds a new layer of injustice and a new level of urgency.
Artwork
Abu Zubaydah speaks to us from Guantánamo through his art.
The United States treats all of Abu Zubaydah’s communications as top secret, classified information that can only be released if his captors allow it. To this day, he cannot communicate freely with the outside world and has been described as “a man without a voice”. Fortunately, some of his drawings have been declassified, which allow readers to glimpse his humanity as we share something of what happened to him.
His drawings form part of the historical record, and call for us to connect with Abu Zubaydah and take action on his behalf.
JUSTICE FOR ABU ZUBAYDAH?
Many legal cases seek justice on Abu Zubaydah’s behalf.
These include pending habeas corpus petitions in US courts, cases against complicit states in the European Court of Human Rights and UN working groups, and civil proceedings in the United Kingdom. Judgments have recognized his torture, condemned his ongoing unlawful detention, and secured compensation on his behalf, and some have made clear that he must be “immediately released.” Complicit states should help find a home for Abu Zubaydah, and enable him to have a life with dignity beyond Guantánamo.