1.6.11
Since I began my quest to discover the stories of the Guantánamo prisoners, and to bring those stories to the world, which I first embarked upon over five years ago, I have endeavoured to make that information as accessible as possible. A major step in achieving this took place in March 2009, when I first produced my four-part Definitive Guantánamo Prisoner List, providing the names and nationalities of all 779 prisoners, and, in over 90 percent of those cases, links to my own articles about Guantánamo (around 300 at that point), providing more information about them, or references for where their stories appear in my book The Guantánamo Files or in 12 additional online chapters.
I updated the list in January and July 2010, and have now updated it again. See Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
This latest update not only provides links to the 300 or so articles I have written in the last year, but also, crucially, includes information from the latest documents to be released by WikiLeaks, the classified military files, known as Detainee Assessment Briefs (DABs), which were released at the end of April. I worked as a media partner with WikiLeaks, and as a result I’m pleased to include information about 86 prisoners that was not previously known (from an ongoing five-part series of articles, entitled, WikiLeaks: The Unknown Prisoners of Guantánamo), and also to include dozens of previously unseen photos. I’ll be conducting further analysis of the WikiLeaks documents over the next few months, and will add further links as this work progresses.
As a result, when this five-part series is complete and the relevant links have been added to this list, it will provide, for the first time, references (mostly in the form of links) to the stories of all of the 779 prisoners held in Guantánamo (with the exception of three missing stories).
This is not, of course, the only online database that is publicly available. The New York Times, for example, has made all the publicly available information about the prisoners, from the Bush-era Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) and annual Administrative Review Boards (ARBs), available on its Guantánamo Docket (and the original source material remains available on the US Department of Defense’s website), although these only cover the stories of around three-quarters of the 779 prisoners held in total. In addition, there is now WikiLeaks’ trove of Detainee Assessment Briefs (DABs), supplementing these documents with crucial insights into how the authorities reached the often mistaken conclusions highlighted in the earlier documents.
However, with the exception of two articles that I wrote for WikiLeaks, introducing the Detainee Assessment Briefs (WikiLeaks Reveals Secret Guantánamo Files, Exposes Detention Policy as a Construct of Lies and How to Read WikiLeaks’ Guantánamo Files), my list provides the only contextual analysis of the stories of all the prisoners held at Guantánamo throughout its long and dark history.
As a result, as I explained when I first published the list:
It is my hope that this project will provide an invaluable research tool for those seeking to understand how it came to pass that the government of the United States turned its back on domestic and international law, establishing torture as official US policy, and holding men without charge or trial neither as prisoners of war, protected by the Geneva Conventions, nor as criminal suspects to be put forward for trial in a federal court, but as “illegal enemy combatants” [or “unlawful enemy combatants,” or, as they now are under President Obama, “alien unprivileged enemy belligerents”].
I also hope that it provides a compelling explanation of how that same government, under the leadership of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, established a prison in which the overwhelming majority of those held — at least 93 percent of the 779 men and boys imprisoned in total — were either completely innocent people, seized as a result of dubious intelligence or sold for bounty payments, or Taliban foot soldiers, recruited to fight an inter-Muslim civil war that began long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and that had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or international terrorism.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate how fundamental the problem is of confusing soldiers with terrorists, and how it is a problem enshrined in the founding legislation of the “War on Terror,” the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which President Obama relies upon to justify the detention of prisoners at Guantánamo, and which lawmakers in the House of Representatives recently voted to expand.
I would also like to add that Guantánamo’s problems are not all in the past. Although 600 of the 779 prisoners held throughout the prison’s nine-year history have been released, 171 remain, and the last two prisoners to leave the prison (in February, and last month) left in coffins. The stories of these men, which I wrote about in my articles, Guantánamo Prisoner Dies After Being Held for Nine Years Without Charge or Trial, The Only Way Out of Guantánamo Is In a Coffin and Guantánamo Suicide Was Severely Mentally Ill, And Was A Case of Mistaken Identity, provide a somber epitaph for President Obama’s hopes of closing the prison, based on the bold promise to do so that he made on his second day in office, and then failed to fulfill.
It is not entirely his own fault, as there are dark forces at work — in the D.C. Circuit Court, where deeply Conservative judges are undermining the prisoners’ habeas corpus rights, granted by a Supreme Court that no longer seems to care, and in Congress, where the most cynical, negative, fearmongering Republican party of all time, with the help of cowardly Democrats, has been working overtime to try and ensure that Guantánamo remains open forever.
Nevertheless, Barack Obama is the President, and the Commander-in-Chief, and he has failed to adequately challenge his critics, or to stand up for the principles which so many of his supporters at the time of his election had been led to believe would result in a thorough repudiation of the Bush administration’s hideous novelties in its brutal and ill-conceived “War on Terror.” Instead, we have the return of kangaroo courts and indefinite detention without charge or trial, as we had under Bush, no release for prisoners cleared for release by Obama’s own Guantánamo Review Task Force, no prosecutions for torturers, and no end in sight to the endless war that the Bush administration started, and which Obama has ramped up with drone strikes and assassinations.
In many ways, therefore, this updated list provides crucial, relevant information — “actionable intelligence,” even — that is actively useful for those still seeking to close Guantánamo, and to bring to an end this bleak chapter in American history.
And believe me, a concerted effort is required if those of us who regard Guantánamo as an abomination and a vile aberration from internationally acceptable standards of detention and the humane treatment of prisoners are ever to see it close.
As ever, I thank you for your support, and if you’re able to make a donation to help me to continue my work, then I will be very grateful. Please click on the “Donate” button above to make a payment via PayPal. All contributions are welcome, whether it’s $25, $100 or $500.
For anyone interested in anniversaries, it is exactly four years since I began writing about Guantánamo as a full-time freelance investigative journalist (following the 14 months that I spent researching and writing The Guantánamo Files), and this is also my 1300th blog post.
Andy Worthington
London, June 1, 2011
Technical note: If you have problems with text overlaying any of the photos in the list, please click “refresh,” and the problem should be resolved.
Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see details about the new documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, on tour in the UK throughout 2011, and available on DVD here — or here for the US), my definitive Guantánamo habeas list and the chronological list of all my articles, and, if you appreciate my work, feel free to make a donation.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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37 Responses
Andy Worthington says...
On Facebook, George Kenneth Berger wrote:
All Dugg and Shared, Andy. Good work. Again, the historical record for future generations, so that they might act better.
...on June 1st, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Andy Worthington says...
Christine Casner wrote:
Andy — Thanks and shared, as always. ♥
...on June 2nd, 2011 at 2:04 am
Andy Worthington says...
Thanks, George and Christine — and all the people who have shared this so far. It’s very much appreciated.
...on June 2nd, 2011 at 2:05 am
Andy Worthington says...
Ghaliyaa Haq wrote:
Andy…. I know you probably think I am flattering you when I say this but I’m dead serious – I would LOVE to see a second book with all this info – because I am NOT kidding – this history MUST be taught to our children – if it isn’t – it’s going to be repeated. It’s so important. And…. has anyone mentioned translating it into Arabic?
...on June 2nd, 2011 at 9:51 am
Andy Worthington says...
Oh, that’s so lovely, Ghaliyaa. I too would love to do a second book, and hope that will happen one day. I’d also like to see the book translated into Arabic, but none of the inquiries I’ve received over the years — and there have been a few — has ever come to anything, sadly.
...on June 2nd, 2011 at 10:26 am
Andy Worthington says...
Ghaliyaa Haq wrote:
Well.. I wish I could translate it for you, but not yet, it would be fantastic though. I’m not surprised you’ve had a lot of inquiries. I don’t know what it takes to translate a book – I mean as far as how it’s done business-wise. But it seems to me that a book like this one – someone would donate the work. Have you looked into that? (I know you have very little time – as much as you research/write!) 🙂 I would donate the time/work if I knew the language well.. but I’m only just learning. :-/
...on June 2nd, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Andy Worthington says...
Again, that’s very kind, Ghaliyaa, but it would need a whole package, including a publisher, that hasn’t happened yet. One day, perhaps …
...on June 2nd, 2011 at 8:40 pm
A Week in Links #14 « Earwicga says...
[…] Andy Worthington has updated his hugely important archive: Guantánamo: The Definitive Prisoner List — Updated for 2011, With New Information and Photos from… […]
...on June 5th, 2011 at 9:26 pm
WikiLeaks and the Guantánamo Prisoners Released from 2002 to 2004 … » WeNewsIt says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, details about the new documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from […]
...on June 28th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Andy Worthington’s Blog: ‘Brutal Benefit Cuts for the Disabled Are Leading to Suicides in the UK’ | Black Triangle Campaign says...
[…] my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, details about the new documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from […]
...on August 28th, 2011 at 6:23 am
Tyler Cabot’s Important Profile of Guantánamo Prisoner Noor Uthman Muhammed for Esquire « freedetainees.org says...
[…] […]
...on September 1st, 2011 at 1:00 am
In Afghanistan, Former Guantánamo Prisoners Reflect on Their Ruined Lives « freedetainees.org says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, 700,000-word series drawing […]
...on September 14th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
London Radio Now - Ahmed Errachidi, Guantánamo Prisoner 590: The Cook Who Became The General says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantnamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantnamo Files,” a 70-part, 700,000-word series […]
...on September 17th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
The Dale Farm Eviction: How Racism Against Gypsies and Travellers Grips Modern-Day Britain | Andy Worthington | WorldWright's … says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on September 29th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Protestors in Washington D.C. Call for an End to the Afghan War on its 10th Anniversary, and the Transformation of American Politics | War On You: Breaking Alternative News says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series […]
...on October 9th, 2011 at 6:47 am
It Costs $72 Million A Year to Hold Cleared Prisoners at Guantánamo « freedetainees.org says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on November 21st, 2011 at 11:59 pm
As Deficit Super Committee Fails, “Occupy” Activists in Washington, DC Provide Inspiring Plan for US Economy « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on November 22nd, 2011 at 1:09 am
British MPs Write to Congress to Complain About Guantánamo and to Demand the Release of Shaker Aamer « freedetainees.org says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on December 3rd, 2011 at 4:49 am
Deranged Senate Votes for Military Detention of All Terror Suspects and a Permanent Guantánamo by Andy Worthington « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on December 4th, 2011 at 11:56 am
Ten Years of Guantánamo: Andy Worthington Visits the US to Campaign for the Closure of the Prison, January 5-15, 2012 | REinFORM.nl says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on January 5th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
A Tired Obsession with Military Detention Plagues American Politics « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on January 9th, 2012 at 4:08 am
Guantánamo Prisoners Stage Peaceful Protest and Hunger Strike on 10th Anniversary of the Opening of the Prison « roger hollander says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on January 10th, 2012 at 5:42 pm
“Close Guantánamo” Campaign and Website Launches: Retired Military Personnel, Lawyers Call for the Closure of Guantánamo After 10 Years | War On You: Breaking Alternative News says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series […]
...on January 12th, 2012 at 8:12 am
Andy Worthington and GITMO Protesters Speak outside U.S. Supreme Court + Guantánamo Forever? « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on January 15th, 2012 at 7:12 am
The Guantánamo Files: An Archive of Articles — Part Eleven, October to December 2011 | Friction Facts says...
[…] I explained in the introduction to my four-part Definitive Prisoner List (updated in June last year), I remain convinced, through detailed research, through comments from […]
...on February 8th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Ten Years of Torture: On Anniversary of Abu Zubaydah’s Capture, Poland Charges Former Spy Chief Over “Black Site” « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on April 2nd, 2012 at 1:40 am
Tarek Mehanna’s Powerful Statement As He Received a 17-Year Sentence Despite Having Harmed No One « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on April 16th, 2012 at 12:18 am
Canada’s Shameful Scapegoating of Omar Khadr by Andy Worthington « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on April 29th, 2012 at 5:55 am
Pragmatism Over Ideology: Obama’s Failure to Close Guantánamo, and His Love of Drones « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on June 11th, 2012 at 2:11 am
Andy Worthington: Gitmo detainees stay imprisoned years after being cleared + SCOTUS Kills Habeas Corpus for Gitmo Detainees « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on June 13th, 2012 at 1:30 am
Andy Worthington and David Remes: GITMO – The Rule of Law and the NDAA « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on December 15th, 2012 at 6:58 am
America’s Indefinitely Detained + Close GITMO Protest « Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on January 12th, 2013 at 3:34 am
America’s Disappeared by Andy Worthington | Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on February 26th, 2013 at 3:14 am
Three survivors of the “Convoy of Death” | the time is nigh says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on August 1st, 2013 at 9:29 am
Guantánamo 10th Anniversary Protest | ZananTV ZananTV says...
[…] to myRSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series […]
...on October 8th, 2013 at 3:08 pm
It Costs $72 Million A Year to Hold Cleared Prisoners at Guantánamo by Andy Worthington | Dandelion Salad says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on November 10th, 2013 at 3:20 am
freedetainees.org – Tarek Mehanna’s Powerful Statement As He Received a 17-Year Sentence Despite Having Harmed No One says...
[…] to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing […]
...on April 12th, 2015 at 11:57 pm