Hero #019: Moazzam Begg … (05/15/16)
Moazzam Begg is a British Pakistani who was held in extrajudicial detention by the U.S. government for nearly three years — first in the infamous Bagram Internment Facility, and then in the equally infamous Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. In the former prison, Begg was abused by guards and witnessed two detainees beaten to death by prison guards; a claim later substantiated by a 2005 U.S. military investigation. After he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay, public outcry over the illegitimate detention of British nationals persuaded the UK government to finally intervene on their behalf, and U.S. President Bush finally had Begg released – appropriately without charge — in January of 2005.
After his release, Begg became a media commentator on issues pertaining to current international anti-terror measures, he toured as a speaker exposing the insidiousness of Guantanamo Bay and other detention facilities, and he co-authored a book, along with several newspaper and magazine articles.
“I understood why the Americans felt they needed to question me. But I’ve never understood how they could have detained me for years.” ~ Moazzam Begg
“Some heroes are invited to Buckingham Palace where honors are heaped upon them. Moazzam Begg, on the other hand, can expect to be hounded by people with power for the rest of his life. The Bush administration’s PR machine is still intent on proving he is an Islamic extremist. On his return to the UK, the government took his passport, based solely on what little false information the U.S. military tortured out of him. And yet, as is so often the case, Bush and Blair are wrong. Moazzam is an extremist all right – he believes passionately in charity and justice for all. In 2001, he wanted to help the destitute in Afghanistan. Before 9/11, this would have been seen as admirable. Instead, it earned him a cage in Bagram. He then spent almost two years in Guantanamo, where I first met him, in an isolation cell the size of your toilet. And yet even there he lived his beliefs, and made friends with his guards, so that those taught to despise him ended up sharing their e-mail addresses with him when he left. Moazzam to this day refuses to hate even those who tortured him.” ~ via Clive S. Smith
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