60 Minutes last night reported the story of Murat Kurnaz, a German resident who was picked up in Pakistan, transferred to U.S. forces for $3,000 bounty, and held for five years in Kandahar and Guantanamo Bay. Kurnaz claims he was tortured by holding his head underwater, administering electric shocks to the soles of his feet, and hanging him suspended from the ceiling of an aircraft hangar. Kurnaz was held for three and a half years after U.S. and German intelligence found no evidence and declared him innocent. He was released in 2006. Kurnaz wrote a book soon to be released in English, Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo.
Despite the disappointing interview (it should have been conducted in German) and Scott Pelley’s leading questions, this is an interesting story. For the background, read the Washington Post’s coverage back in 2005 or the record of his military tribunal (note that about 75 pages remain classified).
Stand up and speak out to ban torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.