An American in Chains

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An American in chains

James Yee entered Guantanamo as a patriotic US officer and Muslim

chaplain. He ended up in shackles, branded a spy. This is his

disturbing 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.

 

It was my turn to be humiliated every time I was taken to have a

shower. Naked, I had to run my hands through my hair to show that I

was not concealing a weapon in it. Then mouth open, tongue up, down,

nothing inside. Right arm up, nothing in my armpit. Left arm up. Lift

the right testicle, nothing hidden. Lift the left. Turn around, bend

over, spread your buttocks, knowing a camera was displaying my naked

image as male and female guards watched.

 

It didn't matter that I was an army captain, a graduate of West Point,

the elite US military academy. It didn't matter that my religious

beliefs prohibited me from being fully naked in front of strangers. It

didn't matter that I hadn't been charged with a crime. It didn't

matter that my wife and daughter had no idea where I was. And it

certainly didn't matter that I was a loyal American citizen and, above

all, innocent.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-1817081_1,00.html