DAMMAM: Marriages don’t usually generate much media attention, but when Juma Mohammed A.W. Al-Dossari was married in the spring, even Western journalists attended the celebration. Just months earlier, it had been impossible for the groom to pray at the mosque, make a phone call or even choose what to eat for dinner.
Al-Dossari’s wedding seems like an improbable outcome because until last year he was a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Seized in Pakistan in late 2001, Al-Dossari was turned over to the US, transferred first to Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan and then in January 2002 sent to the offshore US detention facility in Cuba where he lived in a concrete cell, denied even the basic rights afforded a common criminal by the US Constitution. He was released in July 2007 to the Saudi authorities along with 15 other prisoners. No charges were ever filed against him.
Today, Al-Dossari’s lot has improved. He lives with his wife in a small apartment in Dammam, furnished in modern Western style. Meeting Arab News in the evening, wearing khakis, he relaxed on a sofa and tucked into a meal of shepherd’s pie and salad, while telling hilarious tales of his struggles with local construction workers. The couple’s current living situation is temporary as they hurry to complete renovations on their permanent home, an apartment in a nearby building owned by his mother. They hope to move there before Ramadan. Recently, Al-Dossari’s daughter from his first marriage came to live with them. “We are all very happy,” Al-Dossari said. “We are busy trying to finish all the construction work and get all our furniture and belongings packed and moved before the holy month. This is so much more than I could have hoped for last year.”
Arab News visited Al-Dossari and his family at home on two occasions once they’d settled in after their wedding. The April 24 wedding was a major event, held at Alkhobar’s Al-Gosaibi Hotel, with more than 400 women and 350 men in attendance.
“I am the fourth or fifth from the group released last July to get married,” Al-Dossari said. “It was very expensive to rent and furnish an apartment and pay for all the wedding costs. I don’t regret the expenses because my wife is worth it. She is a very good woman. But without help from the government, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it and I am so grateful.”
Al-Dossari explained that the Saudi government has provided generous assistance to Guantanamo detainees. In his case, this included more than SR100,000 to cover expenses associated with marriage, a new car, medical coverage and psychological support.
“I would like to publicly thank (Deputy Minister of the Interior for Security Affairs) Prince Mohammed ibn Naif for all the personal attention he has shown to me and to my family,” said Al-Dossari. “When I was released, he personally called my mom to tell her that I was safe. Everything I needed he made sure I received. This gave me the chance to start a new life.”
The Guantanamo detainees were brought home on a Saudi plane and received at the Royal Terminal at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. They were transferred to Al-Hayer Prison in Riyadh where the group of 16 was divided in half.
“We were all in shock when we came back to the Kingdom,” explained Al-Dossari. “For me, it was like I’d come from the cemetery, buried underground, and then I had been sent to paradise. I had been held in solitary confinement, locked in a room, one and a half by two meters, for three-and-a-half years. Just being allowed to eat whatever I wanted and to have a telephone to use was overwhelming. I was so happy to be out of Guantanamo but after being deprived of everything for so long I couldn’t cope. In 12 days I slept maybe 10 hours. After my release I had refused to take any of the drugs that the Americans had been giving me but that had frightening results. I was under terrible strain and I needed a lot of doctors to get me through that time.”
Numerous media accounts spoke of the torture Al-Dossari suffered at Guantanamo. He repeatedly tried to harm himself in the extreme conditions. He said that during his time at Guantanamo he was given multiple psychotropic drugs combined with solitary confinement, which drove him to madness. It took several months for doctors in the Kingdom to slowly help Al-Dossari withdraw from the combination of antidepressants, tranquillizers and other drugs that had been administered to him at Guantanamo. He is now free from all medications.
“The first month after my release I kept waking up terrified and I had to get up and make sure that I wasn’t locked up in Guantanamo any more. I have fewer nightmares now, so my sleep is better. I stay busy so I avoid depressive thoughts. I do think about Guantanamo every day. I can’t help it, but at least I am not alone. My wife has been wonderful to me. I have told her everything that happened to me there, everything. She listens to me and I think she now knows me better than I know myself.”
While Al-Dossari was imprisoned at Guantanamo his father died of cancer. This made meeting his family for the first time after his release a bittersweet experience.
“We arrived in the Kingdom at 3 a.m. and at 10 a.m. my family was brought to me. Prince Mohammed ibn Naif’s office had arranged transportation and five-star accommodation for them. My heart was breaking when I kissed my mother’s head and feet. My mom had become very old because of my father’s death and my imprisonment. I hugged and kissed everyone in turn and then there was this young lady who I didn’t recognize. My mother told me that this is my daughter. She was in first grade the last time I’d seen her.”
Readjustment to society took time and enormous resources. Al-Dossari spent 50 days in Al-Hayer Prison and then two-and-a-half months in a special care center set up to reintegrate Guantanamo returnees to society. This included everything from classes on world events and Islam, to art and small business administration. He also had access to recreation facilities such as a swimming pool and football field and he continued his sessions with psychiatrists and counselors.
“In Islam, I try for the middle ground. I don’t want to be extreme. I was stricter before,” Al-Dossari said. “At the care center, sheikhs taught us the right ideas about jihad, Islamic law and Islamic government. On two occasions I was allowed to leave the care center for 10 days each time and spend long visits with my family. At the care center I enjoyed the classes on setting up a small business and I want to take more English and IT courses so I can be successful in running my own business someday.”
At 35 and with only a high school diploma, Al-Dossari is aware that to create a successful future for his family he needs to work hard. He is looking forward to having more children, but his wife insists that if a baby is not on the way by the New Year, she will return to her job. A very private person, she asked not to be identified. Mrs. Al-Dossari is in her late 20s and had been working in the administration at a local hospital before her marriage.
The two are distant relatives but they were unaware of each other before their engagement. Juma disclosed his entire background at the first meeting between the families. Their marriage was arranged traditionally. However, Mrs. Al-Dossari emphasized that it was her choice alone to select him as her husband, although her father advised her that he believed Juma to be an honorable man.
Al-Dossari talks about his time in Guantanamo quite casually, with his wife adding a point from time to time. He is well aware of people’s interest and does not shy away from answering questions. He doesn’t want to be known forever though as the “Gitmo Guy.” His goal now is to allow the experience to fade away and let go of his animosity toward the guards at Guantanamo.
“I cannot hate them,” he said. “If I do I will torture myself forever. I will be on fire inside. I don’t want that. I want to make my heart clean and easy, and live my life.”
