Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who documented his torture and imprisonment in the 2015 Guantánamo Diary, on Monday was finally returned home to his native Mauritania.
Upon his release, Slahi said, “I feel grateful and indebted to the people who have stood by me. I have come to learn that goodness is transnational, transcultural, and trans-ethnic. I’m thrilled to reunite with my family.”
One of Guantánamo‘s longest-held detainees, Slahi’s transfer comes 14 years after he was first brought to the offshore U.S. military prison, where he was held without charge or trial. In his critically-acclaimed memoir, the 44-year-old electrical engineer recounted his “endless world tour” of CIA black sites in Jordan, Afghanistan, and eventually Cuba, where he was abused and tortured.