Tunisia homeland worse than Guantanamo detention camp for ex-prisoners
TUNIS: The two Tunisian former Guantanamo Bay detainees call their homeland an open-air prison and yearn for escape, even back to the US detention center in Cuba.
Hedi Hammami and Salah Sassi have been free for seven years, nearly as long as the two were imprisoned at the American military base on the Caribbean island. The men remain close, complaining that constant police harassment has left them few alternatives for companionship.
“I was in a small prison and today I find myself in a larger one in Tunisia,” said Hammami, who lives on the outskirts of Tunis in a rented room he describes as smaller than his Guantanamo cell.
The room is subject to search at any moment and Hammami himself must check in with police daily. His work as an ambulance driver is tenuous, as is his living situation more generally.
“In three years, I’ve moved seven times because of the pressure police put on landlords for renting to someone who was imprisoned in Guantanamo,” he said.
His Algerian wife and their two children spend much of their time in Algeria to escape the constant stress, he said. He is not allowed to travel.
“I feel like I’m living in a larger sort of Guantanamo. I want to live free and with dignity, or to go back to a prison without ambiguity. I can’t stand this twilight life. When I am in prison, even in isolation, at least it’s clear in my head and I’m resigned to it. Where I can regain my freedom and dignity, that will be my country. That’s not the case for Tunisia,” he told The Associated Press.
At one point, police burst into his home after midnight. “Hedi called me at 2 in the morning. He was afraid. His wife and daughter were in a state of shock,” said Rym Ben Ismail, a psychologist who works with former Guantanamo detainees. “The next day the entire neighborhood was talking about how police came in, the show of force, with officers who were climbing the balconies.”
The Interior Ministry, which oversees Tunisia’s police, declined to comment after repeated requests by The Associated Press.
Of the 12 Tunisians detained at Guantanamo, only Ridha Yazidi remains there — among a total of 41 men still at Guantanamo.
At least two other Tunisians freed from Guantanamo made their way to Syria, and another has seemingly vanished.
The fate of those who have been freed and returned home has hardly proved encouraging, either for the government or the men themselves.