Sami al-Hajii: Free at last
Posted by Paul Chislett on May 2, 2008
“Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj has hit out at the US treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison where he was held for nearly six and a half years.
Saying that “rats are treated with more humanity”, al-Hajj said inmates’ “human dignity was violated”.
Al-Hajj, who arrived in Sudan early on Friday, was carried off the US air force jet on a stretcher and immediately taken to hospital.
Later, he had an emotional reunion with his wife and son.
His brother, Asim al-Hajj, said he did not recognise the cameraman because he looked like a man in his 80s.
Still, al-Hajj said: “I was lucky because God allowed that I be released.”
But his attention soon turned to the 275 inmates he left behind in the US military prison.
‘Dignity violated’
“I’m very happy to be in Sudan, but I’m very sad because of the situation of our brothers who remain in Guantanamo. Conditions in Guantanamo are very, very bad and they get worse by the day,” he said from his hospital bed.” (http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55ABE840-AC30-41D2-BDC9-06BBE2A36665.htm)
Bob said
No wonder people become religious – they yearn for justice since there is so little on earth.