American History Hit

Guantanamo Bay Detention Center: A History From The Inside

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Episode notes

Very few people know what it is like to be in the infamous US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, but our 3 guests for this episode have all had first hand experience.

For one of them, it was as a detainee. Mansoor Adayfi was held, interrogated and tortured at Guantanamo for over 14 years. For Pardiss Kebriaei, it was as an attorney. Pardiss is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and has worked with Guantanamo detainees since 2007. Finally, for Karen Greenberg, it was as an historian. Karen is Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, and author of a number of books, including 'The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days'.

So how did Guantanamo Bay become the locus of a detention centre? How did nearly 800 people come to be detained there? And how has it changed over time? Don finds out.

Mansoor's books include 'Don't Forget Us Here' and the audiobook 'Letters from Guantanamo', available on audible.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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