Home > A letter from Guantanamo: In full
Lawyers for the British Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg say they have received the first uncensored letter from him in two-and-a-half years.
Mr Begg, 36, is being detained at the US military base without trial. Three other Britons also remain there.
The letter, seen by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, claimed he had been tortured, threatened with death and kept in solitary confinement.
Below is Mr Begg’s letter in full, dated 12 July 2004.
12th July, 2004
US FORCES ADMINISTRATION JTF/ JDOG, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
RE: Supplementary Exposition (of Statement dated 5th July, 2004)
I, Moazzam Begg, citizen of The United Kingdom of Great Britain, attributed the number 00558 (camp Echo), have felt it necessary to augment, and further clarify the above noted statement, and to accentuate my grievances and intentions.
After over two-and-a-half years in the custody of the US military without charge, and by extension, without jurisdiction, I have yet to be afforded basic rights normally granted under the constitution of the USA, and international law.
I therefore demand, unconditionally and irrevocably, that I be released immediately and returned to my family and domicile in the UK, together will all possessions: including all items and monies confiscated by US/Pakistani "agents" from my residence in Pakistan on 31 January 2002.
In the likely event that these demands are outrightly rejected or unnecessarily procrastinated, I demand the following rights under US law:-
1. A thorough and peremptory explanation of all statutory rights available within U.S. legislature, particularly with respect to foreign nationals.
2. Any and all charges/ allegations be presented unambiguously, and written.
3. Full access to international phone calls in order to communicate with family and lawyers.
4. Full access to legal representatives of my own choice and appointment.
5. A fully inventoried list detailing all property seized (as mentioned above).
6. Regular and timely access to postal communication with family and a halt to the obscuring and withholding of mail from home.
Wife and children destitute
In addition to the aforementioned rights, I make it known that I expect logical and reasonable answers for the following violations and abuses, and intend to seek justice and accountability:-
i) The exact purpose for my abduction, kidnapping and false imprisonment on 31st January 2002, under the auspices of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement.
ii) Subsequently, what legal jurisdiction they had for taking me forcibly to Afghanistan.
iii) By what legal authority was property and money confiscated, leaving my wife and young children destitute and penniless, in their wake.
Solitary confinement
iv) Why I was brought into a designated war zone, and my life put at risk.
v) Why I was physically abused, and degradingly stripped by force, then paraded in front of several cameras toted by U.S. personnel.
vi) The reason for being held in Bagram detention facility for a year, and consequently, being denied natural light and fresh food for the duration.
vii) The exact purpose for my incarceration in solitary confinement since 8th Feb, 2003!
viii) Why all news pertaining to my own situation has been barred from me.
ix) The justification for withholding most of my family mail, and incongruent obscurance of what little amounts have trickled through - even from 8 year olds!
x) Why phone calls and legal representation have been continually denied, despite several reassurances to the contrary.
xi) Why, despite copious requests, I have yet to meet with a chaplain during all this time.
xii) What was the legality and purpose of extracting my signature on a statement, in early February 2003, by FBI and CITF agents, under threats of long term imprisonment, summary trials and execution - all without legal representation.
Vindictive torture
I state here, unequivocally and for the record, that any documents presented to me by US law enforcement agents were signed and initialled under duress, thus rendered legally contested in validity.
During several interviews, particularly - though unexclusively - in Afghanistan, I was subjected to pernicious threats of torture, actual vindictive torture and death threats - amongst other coercively employed interrogation techniques. Neither was the presence of legal counsel ever produced, or made available.
The said interviews were conducted in an environment of generated fear, resonant with terrifying screams of fellow detainees facing similar methods. In this atmosphere of severe antipathy towards detainees was the compounded use of racially and religiously prejudiced taunts. This culminated, in my opinion, with the deaths of two fellow detainees, at the hands of US military personnel, to which I myself was partially witness.
In spite of all the aforementioned cruel and unusual treatment meted out, I have maintained a compliant and amicable manner with my captors, and a cooperative attitude. My behavioural record is impeccable, yet contrasts immensely to what I have experienced, as stated.
Seek justice
I am a law abiding citizen of the UK, and attest vehemently to my innocence, before God and the law, of any crime - though none has even been alleged. I have neither ever met Usama bin Laden, nor have been a member of Al Qaidah - or any synonymous paramilitary organisation, party or group. Neither have I engaged in hostile acts against the USA, nor assisted such groups in the same - though the opportunity has availed itself many a time, and motive.
Regardless of the outcome of all my appeals to sanity, and protestations over the years, I reiterate my intention to seek justice at every possible level available to me. It is with that intent that I have prepared duplicates of this statement: for the information and use of the authorities and courts of justice.
I have requested this document be perused by the camp NCO; the generality of its contents be recorded in the Camp log; and forwarded to the appropriate intended recipient.
(Signature)
MOAZZAM BEGG (00558)
Dated this twelfth day of July, 2004.