This entry is about the kindest, most patient man that America has ever tortured, Mohamedou Ould Slahi.[1]

On Feb. 22, 2015, we posted a piece about this gentle forgiving man.[2] This update is a happy one—a belated, but glad outcome, indeed.

Shortly after 9/11, and at the request of the United States and the CIA, Slahi’s own country, Mauritania, arrested him and began his cruel descent into unthinkable oblivion.

Oblivion, pain, torture and the long years of U.S. imprisonment—but not one charge was ever filed against him. Thankfully, he was allowed to live in a bungalow setting for part of the last decade. He could do some gardening and watch some TV. But freedom was denied. His poor mother died while he languished in helpless oblivion.

On March 22, 2010, US Judge James Robertson found no grounds for the detention of Mohamedou Ould Slahi—none. The judge ordered his release. Yet the wheels of US justice locked up tight—until now.[3]

Now, “After fourteen years of being held in Guantánamo without charge or trial, Mohamedou Ould Slahi has been released and reunited with his family in Mauritania.”[4]

Read his memoir Guantánamo Diary. Though heavily redacted, you will respect this detainee’s story of hope and kindness. He befriended some of the guards. He wished that he could remain in contact with them, should he ever regain his freedom.

What a warm and generous heart beats in the breast of this devout Muslim from Mauritania. Let us add our good wishes to the many that have followed him home. We will continue to admire and emulate his example of kindness and respect—even toward his prison guards, even toward captors.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi—free at last.

Image: Mohamedou Ould Slahi (photo file found online at Wikipedia[5]; author: International Committee of the Red Cross; shared in accordance with GNU Free Documentation License)

[1] Author of Guantánamo Diary, edited by Larry Siems, Little, Brown and Company, 2015
[2] http://bentari.com/Blog/Entry.aspx?pid=276&bid=51&beid=1040
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/guantanamo-diary-author-mohamedou-ould-slahi-detention
[4] http://guantanamodiary.com/
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamedou_Ould_Slahi