Chaplain James Yee Recounts Experiences at Guantanamo Bay

October 9, 2005

Source: The Sunday Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-1817081,00.html

On October 9, 2005 The Sunday Times ran a feature article on James Yee, an officer and Muslim chaplain in the United States Army, telling the story of his experiences at Guantanamo Bay. The following is an excerpt of that story: "My cell was 8ft by 6ft, the same size as the detainees’ cages at Guantanamo. Barely a week ago I had received a glowing evaluation for my work as the US Army’s Muslim chaplain among the 'Gitmo' prisoners. Now I was the one in chains... I was accused of mutiny and sedition, aiding the enemy and espionage, all of which carried the death penalty. I was regarded as a traitor to the army and my country. This was all blatantly untrue — as would be proved when, after a long fight, all the charges against me were dropped and I won an honourable discharge from the army. I knew why I had been arrested: it was because I am a Muslim. I was just the latest victim of the hostility born the moment when the planes flew into the twin towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001."