The Mauritanian, wrongly suspected of terrorism and imprisoned for fourteen years in Guantanamo, whose story was told in the hit film “Designated Guilty”, has initiated proceedings against Canada responsible for his detention.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi, 51 years old today, believes that “erroneous information” provided by Canada concerning the period when he was a permanent resident in Montreal are at the origin of his detention. This is revealed by the complaint filed on Friday and consulted by theAFP. He is claiming 35 million Canadian dollars in damages for the damages suffered.
The man maintains that it was the false information provided by the Canadian authorities that led to his detention in the American military prison where he says he suffered “ unspeakable torture and ill-treatment “: beatings, sleep deprivation, sexual assault, death threats. Then the Canadian authorities would then have “ tacitly tolerated » the torture he suffered and even « used » information from confessions obtained under torture.
” Slahi’s detention and mistreatment was prolonged because the receipt and use of coerced confessions by Canadian authorities validated the continued torture and detention “, say the lawyers of Mohamedou Ould Slahi in their complaint.
Accused of being linked to the attacks of September 11, 2001
The latter wrote his story in a book that became a best seller before being adapted for the cinema. The film, directed by Kevin Macdonald and starring Tahar Rahim and Jodie Foster, accurately depicts the extreme conditions on the American base.
Arrested in 2001 in Mauritania, he had been successively imprisoned in Jordan and Afghanistan, before arriving at Guantanamo, in what he called in his book a ” world tour of torture and humiliation “. The American authorities accused him of being a member of Al-Qaeda, having participated in the ” Hamburg cell (in Germany), linked to September 11 attacks.
►To read: Guantanamo twenty years later: torture prevents any trial
(with AFP)