Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

“At that moment, if I had
found anything in Sharia
[Islamic law] that would
have allowed me to
commit suicide, I would
have done it. But there is
nothing. Suicide is prohibited
in our religion.”
very distinctive. Also, though they clearly were not
supposed to, some of the guards spoke to him in Pashto.
229 Sometimes he could see a little bit of their beards,
too. After some time, they began to take him out once a
week for about 15 minutes of exposure to sunlight. When
they did this it was usually around noon. They would
stand him in front of a wall, and on several occasions he
could hear children playing nearby, speaking in Pashto.
230 At some point, his captors asked him where he
thought he was. He told them Afghanistan and said he
could tell because of the texture of the soil and the
structure of the buildings. 231
Other than the brief outdoor sessions and weekly baths that he was allowed to take after
some time, his captors only took him out of his cell to interrogate him. Much of this time he
was kept naked, though it is not clear for how long. He went on a hunger strike over this,
asking only for clothes because he said it is forbidden in Islam to pray while naked. He said,
“At that moment, if I had found anything in Sharia [Islamic law] that would
have allowed me to commit suicide, I would have done it. But there is nothing.
Suicide is prohibited in our religion.”
There was a loudspeaker over his head that played loud Western music continuously. He
said, “Even if the music they were putting on was something nice, you would end up hating
it because they were playing it so loud.” It was dark almost all the time, but every now and
then the lights would come on—he thought usually because of some power failure or other
malfunction.
229 Once he asked one of his guards in Pashto the direction of Mecca and the guard answered back in Pashto.
230 Bashmilah described similar “sunning” sessions, where he was placed in front of a wall outside and he could hear
children playing and speaking Pashto nearby. See Bashmilah Declaration, paras. 73-74.
231 Khaled al-Maqtari said he spoke to someone who was in cell 20 during his detention in Afghanistan that appears to be
Di’iki. The prisoner in cell 20 went by the name Sheikh Saleh al-Libi (a version of Di’iki’s first name indicating he is from
Libya). Maqtari said “Saleh al-Libi” told him he had been detained in Mauritius and rendered through Morocco to their
current place of detention. However, it is possible the connection with Mauritius is mistaken and was actually Mauritania
where Di’iki was initially detained. See Amnesty International, From Abu Ghraib to Secret CIA Custody: The Case of Khaled al-
Maqtari, p. 20.
71 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2012