Guantánamo Diary by Since 2002, Mohamedou Ould Slahi has been imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay. Although never charged with a crime and ordered released by a federal judge, he remains imprisoned. Three years into his captivity, Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he left his home and disappeared into U.S. custody..

Why you'll like it: Deeply personal, freedom, terrifying, candid. About the Author: Mohamedou Slahi was born in a small town in in 1970. He won a scholarship to attend college in Germany and worked there for several years as an engineer. He returned to Mauritania in 2000. The following year, at the behest of the United States, he was detained by Mauritanian authorities and rendered to a prison in ; later he was rendered again, first to Bagram Air Force Base in , and finally, on August 5, 2002, to the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay, , where he was subjected to severe . In 2010, a federal judge ordered him immediately released, but the government appealed that decision. The U.S. government has never charged him with a crime. He remains imprisoned in Guantanamo. Larry Siems is a writer and human rights activist and for many years directed the Freedom to Write program at PEN American Center. He is the author, most recently, of The Torture Report: What the Documents Say About America's Post-9/11 Torture Program. He lives in New York. Questions for Discussion 1. Did you find Guantanamo Diary hard to read because of all the redactions? 2. Slahi has a very good grasp of the English language? Do you believe he learned it from his captors? 3. What have you learned from reading Guantanamo Diary? 4. What passages struck you as significant – or interesting, profound, amusing, disturbing or sad? 5. What did you think of the structure and style of Slahi’s writing? 6. What was the most pivotal point in the book for you? 7. Were there any moments in the book where you disagreed with Slahi’s choices? What would you have done differently? 8. Have your views or thoughts on GTMO, interrogations by the military or prison conditions changed after reading this book?