JEDDAH, 14 December 2005 — In a letter to his family, Sulayem Al-Harbi asked his mother to find him a wife. It is of course absolutely normal for a young Saudi man to ask his mother to find him a wife. This case is, however, different.
Sulayem is a detainee at the notorious Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba; he has been held there for nearly four years. His family recently received a letter from him; it was a letter full of his hopes — the hope to remarry, the hope to see his three children again and the hope of obtaining his freedom.
Since his imprisonment in 2002 only five of Sulayem’s letters have reached his family. In the most recent one — which Arab News has a copy of — he began by thanking his family for their letters. He told them how happy he was to receive their letters and how much the letters meant to him.
Sulayem said that he had only received two letters and he named the senders. Out of dozens sent, he has received only two. The letters have been “lost” on their way to his prison cell, a cell located in an area kept in the dark, away from the gaze of the world.
Sulayem’s elder brother, Sulaiman, said: “I myself have sent him dozens of letters and I am certain he hasn’t received them.”
When asked what he had written, he said: “Letters to lift his spirits, to keep his faith and to tell him of his loved ones who are anxiously waiting for his return.”
Another brother, Muhammad, said: “Sulayem has asked about our grandmother but in one of the letters we sent him, we told him that she died — about a year ago — but evidently, that letter never reached him.”
Sulaiman said that during their visit to Prince Muhammad ibn Naif, the deputy interior minister, the prince assured them that the Saudis in Guantanamo had no solid legal accusations against them and that he was very optimistic that they would be released soon.
Sulayem went to Afghanistan well before Sept. 11, 2001. According to friends and family, his reasons for going there are not really known. He was there during the war against the Soviet Union. That war was supported by most of the world, including his present captors, the Americans. As time went on, however, policies changed. Friends became foes and foes became friends and now the father of three is locked in a prison that is beyond the reach of any civilized laws or standards. He is being involuntarily held in the place the Americans call Gitmo, a place whose purpose is not justice, a place whose purpose is only to terrorize.
Sulayem’s family said that they received some unclear information about his whereabouts and then they received an official call from the Interior Ministry that Sulayem was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
There have been many reports of torture behind the walls of Gitmo; only a few weeks ago, the US government refused to allow UN human rights representatives to interview prisoners privately. This led to the UN’s canceling the visit which had been scheduled for Dec. 6; without private interviews, there would have been no point in the visit.
The families of detainees asked: “What more is there to hide? Why doesn’t the country that calls for freedom, democracy, liberty and justice practice what it preaches?”
Sulaiman added: “And to top everything, most of the mail sent to the prisoners never reaches them even though the worst murderers and serial killers in US prisons receive their mail regularly.”
Sulayem has three children — Somaiyya, Abdullah and Wid. He says in his letter: “I miss my three children. Please give them my love.” His son, Abdullah, said: “We also have our hope — the hope of seeing our father again very soon.”
