Letters from Guantánamo

De: Mansoor Adayfi, Antonio Aiello

Narrado por: Mansoor Adayfi, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Elias Khalil, Ibrahim El Helw

In weeks after the September 11 attacks, 18-year-old Mansoor Adayfi was kidnapped by Afghan militia and sold to US forces for bounty money. After months of interrogations, he was sent to the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as one of its first prisoners. Like the nearly 800 other men imprisoned at Guantanamo, Adayfi didn’t know why he was imprisoned or for how long. He had never seen a skyscraper and couldn’t imagine what the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center looked like, much less how they were destroyed.

At one point during his first days at Guantánamo, he was instructed to write a letter to his family. He knew interrogators would use whatever he wrote as leverage against him, so he wrote a fake letter to his family. That small act of rebellion made him feel human again and allowed him to address his captors in a way he couldn’t during interrogations. So Adayfi continued to write to his captors disguised as letters to the outside world. He wrote to the pope, space aliens, President Obama, Men’s Health Journal, the Founding Fathers, Martin Luther King, Jr., Donald Trump, and many, many others.

In this three-act production, we experience Adayfi’s coming of age and transformation from a willful and sardonic teenager accused of being an Al-Qaeda general into a hardened resistance fighter to a mature student and artist released after 15 years of imprisonment without ever being charged with a crime. In the story’s epilogue, Adayfi, now freed, finds catharsis by writing one final letter back to Guantánamo. Inspired and encouraged by Adayfi, others whose lives were turned upside down by Guantánamo write their own letters, including families of former prisoners, attorneys, CIA analysts, and former prisoners.

This unforgettable Audible Original brings you close to all the things that make us human—despair, humor, imagination, and an unwavering will to thrive in the most unimaginable circumstances.

©2024 Mansoor Adayfi (P)2024 Audible Originals, LLC.

Astounding

As an American, I am ashamed at the treatment described in this book. The abuse described at Guantonomo Bay sounds just like slavery. I appreciate the resilience of the captives and the humor. An eye-opening sad book, but a story that must be told-all a part of American history like it or not.

What do we stand for?

We are supposed to be liberating and helping those under tyranny. Stripping someone of their humanity in the ways described is not what the flag is supposed to stand for. Praying for healing in everyone and all families involved

Abu Gharib 2.0

Here's one that I can give a good review and share. I always wanted to know what goes on inside. Now I know and I don't like it. You won't either. What was it like from a prisoner's point of view? Read on. How does it compare to the torture chamber Abu Ghraib? You be the judge? It's not in the news any more, is it still open? Ask the 30 remaining "enemy combatants" who are untried and unconvicted. How much does it cost to operate it today? read on.

Masterful use of humor to explore a horror.

In this autobiographical audiobook, Letters from Guantanamo, author Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi, a former detainee, was ultimately found innocent after imprisonment without charges from 2002 to 2016. Although the US government contends that he might have been a low-level fighter, he has never waivered from his assertion that as a teenager, he was kidnaped for ransom by thugs, and when his family couldn't pay, he was sold to the Americans for the bounty offered for al-Qa'ida members.

Mr. Adayfi recounts his time in Guantanamo and the conditions he endured there, his hunger strike, and his forced release to Serbia, a country with a history of hostility to Muslims instead of repatriation to his native Yemen.

Early in his captivity, he is instructed to write a letter to his family. Suspecting that his captors want to imprison them, too, he writes a letter to a fake family, directing its content at the censor he knows will read it. The act of rebellion helps him cling to his humanity. This book springs from that letter. The epistolatory format provides a powerful vehicle for this autobiography, as is his plea for the release of many detainees who, like him, were rounded up or sold to the American forces in the days following the 911 attack--a time when many were ready to believe any accusation leveled against a young Muslim. Narrated in part by the author Mansoor Adayfi and co-author Antonio Aiello, it has a visceral impact and mixes the horror of Guantanamo with a touch of humor that only pathos can inspire.

This is a Captivating Listen!

Full disclosure: I had a minor contribution to this project. That said, I had no idea what the final project would look like— or sound like—and this is beyond my wildest dreams. I’m quite familiar with Guantanamo and didn’t think I could be so drawn into an audio book about it — but I couldn’t walk away from this. The story is compelling, the performance is riveting, and I listened to the entire book in one sitting. I cannot recommend this enough.

Brutal and honest

A dark humor regarding human suffering is interwoven through this redemptive tale of resiliency, faith, brotherhood and tenacity.

What an amazing piece of history! Wow!

So informative and beautifully done. Terrible atrocities but the narrator makes you feel at ease and without fault, invites you to learn

A Profound and Heartfelt Collection

Having just finished listening "The Letters from Guantanamo," I am moved by the depth and humanity found within its pages.

One of the most striking aspects of this book is the ingenuity with which the detainees addressed their letters. Despite the constraints and censorship they faced, their messages were powerful and impactful. Each letter serves as a testament to the indomitable spirit of the human soul, capable of hope and expression even in the direst circumstances.

The author’s voices is diverse, yet he all share a common thread of longing for justice, connection, and understanding. His words are poignant and often heartbreaking, but they are also filled with moments of hope, wisdom, and even humor. The letters are not just pleas for freedom but are also reflections on life, faith, and humanity.

It is also a powerful reminder of the importance of empathy and the need to uphold human rights and dignity.

Highly recommended.

Remarkable.

This book is a must read for every human in this bleeding earth. Horrifying story of an unjust imprisonment in Guantanamo prison. And the journey of a young innocent man turned into a great humanitarian

An important reminder

This was a dark time in American history and these acts of torture never should’ve been sanctioned.