Exclusive: Lakhdar Boumediene, former Guantanamo detainee
>>> in those rare instances when we do talk about guantanamo it's about the politics of it. there's very little said, these days, about who the prisoners are, how they got there and who's guilty of what. in october of 2001 , six algerian men in bosnia were arrested. after a three-month investigation, bosnian investigators found insufficient evidence to justify their arrest. the bosnian supreme court ordered their immediate release. here's what happened next as reported by "nbc nightly news" that night.
>> reporter: police vans carry them away from the prison in sarajevo right into the hands of u.s. military forces who immediately took them into custody. angry mobs of muslims who claimed the u.s. is waging war against islam and not terrorism tried to block the handoff of the muslim prisoners but were beaten back by riot police . the six suspects are accused of attempting to blow up the u.s. embassy in sarajevo.
>> they would become some of the first detainees at guantanamo bay . one of those prisoners was lakhdar boumediene . the u.s. government stopped accusing the men but lakhdar was held for seven years without charge or explanation. he's a free man today in part because of a supreme court decision that bears his name, the rule that terror suspects held at guantanamo have a constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court . yesterday, with the help of an arabic translator, i interviewed lakhdar boumediene from his home in nies, france. it was one of the hardest interviews and one of the most effective. here's some of our discussion. take a look.
>> translator: i arrived to guantanamo and they removed the black bag from my hand and the muffs from my ear and blindfolds. it was a big shock to me. and i said to myself, is this america that respects human rights ? during the preliminary investigations -- interrogations, i mean, i thought america was a great country and that there is justice and freedom and human rights . and that they were realize within a day or two, or maybe a month, you know, that they would realize that i am innocent and they will let me go home to my family. but it was totally the contrary. this is something that i will never forget. they were interrogating me for hours and hours during the night, midnight until 6:00 a.m . the situation changed in 2004 and i got a major interrogator. i don't really remember his real name . and i used to call him the elephant. and he said, your case is not a case of the u.s. embassy . it's not a case of terrorism and it's not a case of armed group. no. your case is -- it's a political case. it's a purely political. if bush makes an agreement with your president in algeria, you know, we can probably reach an agreement. here i receive orders and i have to follow these orders and i have to ask you these questions, whether you respond to my questions or refuse to respond to my questions, i don't care. my job is to ask you questions, but you have nothing to do with terrorism, you know, your case is a purely political case.
>> at a certain point you decided to go on a hunger strike to protest your detention there. what happened when you decided to go on a hunger strike ?
>> translator: they brought me like a special meal, like it was like some potatoes and carrots and they covered it with some sauce to remove the bad odor and then they said you have 15 days to eat this. you're going to eat this kind of food because you provoked the problem with the soldier. it's going to be your food for lunch and for dinner. i said thank you very much for the meal and i'm not going to eat it until, god willing , i am going to be moved from here.
>> in america , the word torture has a very specific meaning. it's very important we understand when you say you were tortured after obama came in, what specifically was done to you?
>> translator: specifically, when i was on a hunger strike and here i can explain to you, then you will tell me, you will tell me, whether it's torture or not. americans will decide whether it's torture or not. from the very first day, for 2 1/2 years, they knew my left sinus was blocked. that was before i came to jail, i was taken to jail. the tube could not get inside. so that feeling was on the right side only. they knew that. this is what was registered for the nurses and the physicians with regard to the feeling. but when the nurse comes, they try for five to ten minutes on this side of the nose and then they hit the bone. you tell me, was this torture or not? the real face of america is guantanamo . that's the real face of america is guantanamo . no justice. there is no human rights , you know, people are suffering, torturing, you know. and you know, there are so many reasons, we're not going to list them in this program, but this is the real face of america .
>> would it make a difference to you if the government admitted they made a mistake and formally apologized?
>> translator: well, of course things will change . many things will change . the first thing -- the first thing that i will get my rights here, so i can start a new life. now i don't have anything. i lost all my life. how can i start from scratch? how can i start? now when i go and try to find a job and i give them my cv, i don't know what you call it, the cv or something, they ask me between 2002 and 2009 what did you do and this is where the shock is when i -- when the interviewer hears the word guantanamo and prarenthesis, they see prison, forget it, they will never call you. you're not going to hear anything. i want to address this question to the american people . i am asking you, if one of you is imprisoned in america for 7 1/2 years, deprived of his wife, his children and life, he lost his job and his kids cannot say in front of their peers our father was in prison. when this guy is released from jail after seven years, is he compensated? you know, i leave the american people to answer this question. i leave it to them. american government , you know, is an arrogant government. until this very moment they don't want to admit they made a mistake towards lakhdar boumediene . this is the least they could have done. the american government could have done is to admit guilt here, admit they made a mistake.
