STORY: Nightmare unawakened, former Afghan Guantanamo prisoner calls for compensation
DATELINE: Aug. 31, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:04
LOCATION: CHAPARHAR, Afghanistan
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Mohammad Nasim working in the farmland 
2. various of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (file)
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner

STORYLINE:

Living in a slum house in Chaparhar district in east Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, Mohammad Nasim, a former Guantanamo prisoner, said that he has not lived a good life since his release from the notorious prison.

Nasim said he has been suffering from psychological diseases since he was arrested by U.S. troops and then apprehended in the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp for five years.

Terming the U.S. claim for defending human rights as a joke, Nasim said that his being jailed without proof demonstrates the U.S. so-called defense of human rights a complete lie.

Nasim recalled that the security forces of the erstwhile U.S.-backed regime arrested him in late 2001 or early 2002 and handed him over to the U.S. troops on the charge of having relations with the Taliban.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
"About 60 security personnel surrounded my house and broke into the house. We were eating our dinner. They wore a bag on my head, kicked me, pulled me down, hit my head to the wall, chained my hands, and pulled me down again. They hanged me for seven days and nights, and a soldier shocked me and said, 'No sleeping.'"

The first thing that jumps into his mind when Nasim recollects his Guantanamo memories is the two-month confinement in a cell.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
"I spent two months in a room and could not see the sky and sun. They (Americans) kept repeating words, such as 'you were with the Taliban, and you fought against Americans.' I told them they arrested me at home, not from the battleground."

Nasim soon realized that his defense was meaningless.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
"When we were sleeping, they washed us with water from the pipe and did not allow us to sleep at night. They threw away the Quran (Muslim holy book) just to torture us. They tied our hands, chained our feet, and took us from one room to another at night. Five years in jail is a long time. Let alone being tortured all the time."

After released back to Afghanistan, he now feeds a 14-member family on a piece of farmland. Because of the five-year jail, his life is full of difficulties.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Pashto): MOHAMMAD NASIM, Former Guantanamo prisoner
"They (Americans) shifted me there (Guantanamo). I was jailed for five years, but no compensation. Why? I am indebted and now work to return my debts. Do I have no right to ask for compensation? They are liars and deceiving the people."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Chaparhar, Afghanistan.
(XHTV)