New book on Detainee Deaths Explores "Cover-up at Guantanamo"

Guantanamo has forged a place in the world’s consciousness as synonymous with torture. The world’s largest military force exerted its power over hundreds of prisoners held for years without rights or hope. Deep within the prison’s secretive recesses, over the years some of its prisoners met with death, most supposedly via suicide. But the circumstances of these deaths were shrouded in mystery and government censorship. Based upon newly released Freedom of Information Act documents, my new book, published via Amazon Kindle, shows that earlier reports of cover-up in the case of three so-called suicides in 2006 extends to subsequent deaths in the Cuba-based U.S. interrogation and detention camp.

“Cover-up at Guantanamo” is a riveting, in-depth examination of the deaths of two detainees, Mohammed Al Hanashi and Abdul Rahman Al Amri, who died in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Using never-before-seen reports from government investigators, eyewitness testimony, and medical and autopsy records, including documents recently released by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the formal investigation into the deaths of these Guantanamo prisoners is revealed as rife with problems. Revealed also for the first time is the suicide note and “last testament” of Mohammed Al Hanashi, who tells us he wanted to end his life because of the treatment he received at Guantanamo, including in its special Behavioral Health Unit for mentally ill prisoners.

Among the explosive details revealed in this book is the fact government agents themselves, most likely from NCIS, the very agency charged with investigating the deaths, interfered with the gathering of evidence, ordering the shutdown of Guantanamo’s computer database of prison activities within minutes of one detainee’s death. Even worse, after the FOIA for this material was filed, the computer logs suddenly went missing! In fact, I discovered some kind of interference with the normal recording of daily events in Guantanamo's computer recording system took place in four of the five deaths I examined at any length! The mainstream press has not, or maybe will not, report this.

Yet that is only the beginning of the story, as my investigation shows NCIS also intervened to suppress the laboratory investigation of key evidence. But wait, there's more. Material evidence was thrown out in the trash, prisoners who were intensely mentally ill were provided with material to kill themselves, and medical personnel turned their backs on detainee complaints of torture. The book also expands on the mysterious use of the antimalarial drug mefloquine for possible reasons of interrogation.

In addition, the book reviews details of the death of another detainee, Adnan Latif, and adds new revelations concerning the deaths of the three detainees who died in 2006. As we can see from other government documents, we likely do not know how many prisoners have even died at Guantanamo. What we learn from the stories in this book is that its contents are not about only one or two government cover-ups, but about the secretive way the Pentagon and intelligence agencies go about their business. Covering-up is not just a term describing an instance of government malfeasance or crime, but the main operational mode of a military and intelligence apparatus that is out of control.

This is a story that the mainstream press would not touch. I spent over four years gathering the material for this book. It is a crucial document in the history of our times, a period when our country lost its way in the so-called “war on terror” and engaged in torture and the evils of indefinite detention. This is the story of how a few individuals were crushed under the coercive regime at Guantanamo, but the humanity of these individuals is rescued in the telling of the tragic but real stories of their deaths.

All the original documentation for my book, in the form of documents released by either the U.S. Army or the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, I have posted online at GuantanamoTruth.com. The book can be previewed below:

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You are truly a righteous voice for justice, and I want to run out and buy your book asap!

Unfortunately I don't have kindle - are you expecting to publish in hard or soft book versions anytime soon? Further, I try to avoid aiding and abetting Amazon, so another source would be very welcome. I'd run out and buy a NOOK if needed to get your book from Barnes and Noble.

Again, please don't be a stranger here - I missed you when you stopped posting at TOP and wondered if you'd been run off when I wasn't looking.

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Thanks, gustogirl. I understand your feelings about Amazon. But for a self-publisher who quickly wants to get out important new information, they were easiest for me. I don't find one capitalist outlet better or cleaner than another, but I appreciate those who wish to forego certain companies on principle. As it is, I do plan to publish a softcover of the book soon, but it too will be at Amazon. I also plan to offer it at other outlets, like Barnes and Noble, but I made a deal with Amazon to forego that for 90 days. I'm a newbie in the self-publishing game, so I can't judge the wisdom of my choices. They are what they are at this point.

A person, by the way, can purchase a book at Amazon and read it online with a free computer book reader (Amazon Cloud Reader) or free phone or tablet app. By purchasing my book at Amazon you aren't hurting any other outlet or bookstore, because it's not available anywhere else right now. Also, Amazon is giving me 70% of what you would pay, far more than any other publisher would, and that allows me to (hopefully) continue to research and publish what no one else seemingly will!

You can, by the way, read the entire first chapter in the preview link on the essay page here, and I put the majority of my findings there anyway... front-loaded it, if you will.

Yes, I left TOP after when I thought I could not ethically post there anymore, with the slander and faux-racism call-out of Sanders was taking place, not to mention the embrace of certain neo-con tropes and figures.

I hope you do get the book soon!

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I totally agree with galtegirl's (sp?) greeting to you. I remember you from Docudharma. You were lost and buried at Kos. You will be appreciated here. So I hope you will grace our pages with your righteous wisdom.

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gulfgal98's picture

Thank you for posting this essay about your new book. I hope you will continue to visit us and contribute more. We need more people like you to shine a light into the darkest corners of our detention programs.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

I'll buy your book and put it in the ever-growing stack next to the couch! Smile

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

I know what you mean... thanks!

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Shockwave's picture

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The political revolution continues

Steven D's picture

Thanks for all the work it took you.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Good to "see" you!

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Creosote.'s picture

Will send a link to your announcement here to someone who I learned is familiar with and has been following your work. Strongest regards!

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MsGrin's picture

Congrats on the new venture!

My brain has been fighting me pretty hard recently, so I've been better at getting through (short) articles than books, which sounds totally lame, I know.

When I see that you've written, I tend to get this simultaneous elated & deflated feeling: I'm glad you've written to bring day light to something, but then I also know that that thing is truly, horribly awful and it's going to be painful (in so very many ways) to read about it...

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member