Kicking off this extraordinary series, we hear first-hand from Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Detained at Guantánamo for 14 years without charge, he exposed the use of torture at the facility, smuggling out facts about his experience in letters to his lawyer. Nancy Hollander represented Mohamedou during this time and joins Professor Sir Malcolm Evans to extend the conversations started with Mohamedou at a University of Bristol event that marked 20 shameful years of Guantánamo, and discuss her role in sharing the story that helped secure his freedom.

1.Guantánamo Bay – A prisoner’s story

Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, co-Director of The Human Rights Implementation Centre and the former Chair of the UN’s Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, hosts this series which explores the shameful 20th anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention camp, discussing its impact and its legacy with former prisoner, Mohamedou Ould Slahi and his defence lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

In this episode:

Part 1- We hear extracts from a talk held at the University of Bristol Law School's Human Right's Implementation Centre in March 2022 featuring Mohamedou Ould Slahi -  a Mauritanian citizen who was detained at the camp for 14 years without charge trial and Nancy Hollander - an internationally recognised  criminal defense lawyer who represented Mohamedou while he was at Guantánamo.

Part 2 - Nancy joins Malcolm to reflect on what we have just heard and examine Mohammedou’s experience of writing his book Guantánamo Diary, and her role in helping smuggle out the first and only memoir by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee. The book, published in 2015, was adapted into the film 'The Mauritanian' in 2021. The transcript was smuggled out by Mohamedou via Nancy in the form of correspondence with his legal counsel

Further Reading/Viewing:

Guantánamo, torture and the mechanisms for change – www.bristol.ac.uk/research-guantanamo

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