He was born to a Christian family. It is hard to know his expectations from life or the extent to which these expectations could be met in the abject conditions in Africa. However, Binyam hoped he would find the peace and serenity that the first Muslims were looking for in Ethiopia in the West. Like many other Asians and Africans, he thought he would save his life by moving to either Europe or America. He arrived in England with great expectations in 1994 and applied for refugee status because his family was part of the opposition to the Ethiopian government. British authorities rejected his application in 2000; however, he was given the right to stay in the country for four years.
Binyam was living in North Kensington, located in west London, trying to survive by working as a janitor while also studying electronics. Binyam made a big decision in 2001; he converted to Islam. Of course, he was unaware what would happen to him throughout the next seven years because of a decision he made following this.
According to his own statements, he wanted to go to Afghanistan to deal with his drug addiction. In addition, he also wanted to see if Afghanistan was really a country ruled in accordance with Islamic law, as argued by the Taliban.
However, at the same time, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, took place. Subsequently, the US waged a war against Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban administration. Binyam was taken into custody by Pakistani police at the Karachi Airport on his way back to England.
According to the Americans, Binyam was specifically picked by al-Qaeda because he was living in London; they further argued that he was trained by al-Qaeda militants and that he was involved in a number of local fights against the Northern Alliance as a Taliban militant. The allegations included that he was a dangerous terrorist who was planning to stage an attack in the US.
As he noted in a statement his lawyer announced after his arrival in London after seven years on Monday, this was the start of the nightmare that lasted seven years.
He spent the last four out of these seven years in prison in Guantanamo, the notorious detention center that has destroyed the image of the West as a promoter of advanced standards of civilization. According to records from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), he was taken to Morocco in July 2002 on an aircraft used by the CIA to transport other terror suspects. At this stop, he was tortured for 18 months by American and Moroccan authorities. Afterward, he was taken on a Boeing 737 jet to a secret base in Afghanistan used to hold prisoners. He was tortured there, as well, by American security forces. Binyam was then transported from Afghanistan to Guantanamo in September 2004.
He was subjected to torture and degrading and inhumane treatment. In Guantanamo he was stripped naked; his genitals were struck; he was forced to stand up sleepless for nights and held in a room over open sewage, subjected to noise at high volumes. He argues that the torture was so severe that he had to accept the accusations and allegations against him. He "confessed" he was connected with Bin Laden and planning an attack against the US.
In October 2008 the US dropped all accusations and charges against Binyam, who was held in a prison where he was subjected to torture for seven years without standing trial, because there was no concrete evidence substantiating these charges, with the exception of his statements under coercion.
In a written statement, Binyam thanked American military lawyer Yvonne Bradley, who played a major role in his liberation, and recalled that 241 Muslim prisoners were still being held in Guantanamo.
The most impressive part of Binyam's statement was his accusation against the British intelligence service, because he has found that the British agents actually collaborated with the Americans instead of saving him from torture. Now the British people are discussing the magnitude of the cooperation and collaboration between the US and Britain.
