The United States and Slahi

This flow follows the changing relationship between Slahi and the United States, from initial surveillance to detention, interrogation, litigation, and an unresolved demand for explanation.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Watched in Canada

A Suspicion He Could Feel Surveillance Begins After Ahmed Ressam’s arrest, Canadian authorities questioned Slahi and watched the community around the al Sunnah mosque. He felt uncomfortable being observed and decided to leave Canada. An Open Departure Slahi traveled using his passport and real name through Belgium and Senegal. He later argued that this conduct did not fit the claim that he had fled an imminent arrest. The Relationship Starts The United States was not yet holding him, but American interest shaped his route and his sense of danger. He did not understand how far that interest would later reach.

Questioned at Home

Repeated American Interest Interrogations in Mauritania American agents questioned Slahi after Senegal and Mauritania detained him in 2000. He was released when officials found no basis for believing he had joined the Millennium Plot. The Case Reopens After September 11, American requests led Mauritanian authorities to detain him again. Even official assurances of innocence did not end the foreign government’s interest. A Relationship of Imbalance Slahi saw the United States as powerful enough to keep reopening a case without presenting evidence. The relationship shifted from surveillance to direct influence over his liberty.

Rendition and Custody

The United States Takes Control Secret Transfer Mauritania transferred Slahi to Jordan at the behest of the United States. He was interrogated there for months, then taken through Bagram to Guantánamo. A Chain of Custody Each transfer placed him farther from family and ordinary legal protection. The United States shaped the movement of the case while partner governments provided prisons and interrogation access. Trust Collapses Slahi’s early belief that American justice would resolve the matter gave way to fear and distrust. The state he expected to explain the allegations became the power that kept him confined.

Interrogation Without a Charge

The Relationship Turns Coercive Changing Allegations Slahi was asked about the Millennium Plot, al-Qaeda, the September 11 attacks, and people he had known. He says interrogators never gave him a stable, credible account of what he had done. Torture and False Statements In 2003, military interrogators subjected him to an approved program of isolation and coercion. He eventually supplied fabricated statements, which he later attributed to pressure rather than truth. A State Without a Courtroom No criminal charge followed. The government continued to hold him while the relationship between citizenless detainee and state remained outside ordinary criminal procedure.

A Public Demand for Answers

The Case Addressed to Readers Legal Challenge and Memoir Slahi filed a habeas petition and wrote a memoir asking officials and readers to understand his story. Both were attempts to make the government answer the question it had evaded in interrogation. A Judicial Finding James Robertson ordered his release in 2010, but the government appealed. The court’s decision gave his challenge legal force without ending detention. Still Waiting The memoir closes with Slahi still at Guantánamo, uncertain whether he will go home. His relationship with the United States remains defined by custody, contested explanations, and the demand for a final answer.

Late 1999–January 2000

2000–2001

November 2001–August 2002

2002–2005

2005–the memoir’s present