Interview with the Wife of Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer

CAGEPRISONERS.COM: Can you please provide us with some basic information about your husband to introduce him to our readers?

Umm Abdullah: My husband's name is Shaker Abdur-Raheem Muhammad Aamer. He was born on 21 December 1966 in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. We married whilst he was visiting the UK in 1996. We have four children, Sara (6) and 3 boys; Abdullah (4), Abdur-Rahman (3) and Abdul-Aziz (2) [CP: the real names of the children have been withheld on the wishes of the mother].

CP: Can you tell us the circumstances behind your husband's capture?

UA: He felt very much for the poor, hungry and needy and always wanted to help others. He travelled to Afghanistan in about August 2001 for voluntary charity work. I was pregnant with our fourth child. War broke out in Afghanistan in October 2001 and I heard nothing from him or about him until Januray 2002. A man from one of the newspapers turned up at the doorstep and told us he had some information about our relative in Afghanistan. He verified my husband's name and said he had been found injured badly and in ragged clothes by the Northern Alliance and taken to Kandahar. They then handed him over to the US Army. I did not believe it at first.The man from the newspaper offered us money to give them a story but I was heavily pregnant and wanted to be left alone. The next week we saw their article mentioning my husband by name and that he had been captured by the US army. That was when the reality started to hit me. Then a letter arrived from him in Kandahar via the Red Cross which confirmed he had been caught by them.

CP: When did you first find out that he was in Guantanamo Bay? How did you feel the moment you found out?

UA: I received his first letter from Cuba dated 16 February 2002, via the Red Cross. He wrote that he was being held by the Americans and would be freed soon. He also wrote that do not believe the newspapers. "I wasn't fighting and I haven't been injured. I was hiding in a village from the bombings and the Northern Alliance", who at the time where handing over any foreign nationals to the US army. Our fourth baby was just a couple of weeks old. I was shocked and refused to believe it. Then the letters started to come, all postmarked from Guantanamo Bay, and I had to believe it. The shock made me very weak, especially as I had just given birth also, and it took months for me to regain my strength.

CP: How much communication have you had with your husband during his detention?

UA: At first I would receive letters 2-3 times a month, sometimes even every week. This carried on for most of 2002. I too would write to him every week. From his letters it seemed like he was getting at least half of the letters I wrote to him. Then the letters started to come less frequently after the start of 2003: once every 2-3 months. I received the last letter from him in September 2003, dated June 2003 and have not not heard from him since. I have been writing to him regularly. I still write but now I am beginning to think there is no point and it is a waste of time. I don't think he is getting any of my letters now.

CP: What does your husband say about the conditons inside Guantanamo Bay?

UA: He was never one to complain and he always writes in his letters that he is doing fine. Perhaps he doesn't want to worry me because he knows I worry a lot. He once wrote,"I even miss London's cold weather" which indicated it must be very hot where he is. Once he wrote a letter and quickly finished it after a few lines saying "I'm in a hurry." This worried me as to why he was in a hurry and what was happening to him to rush him.

CP: Can you tell if he has been subjected to any physical and psychological torture?

UA: He does not mention anything specific but I could tell from his letters when he was feeling particularly down. Once he wrote, "Buy the children electric cars and buy my sweetheart Sara anything she wants." He seemed to feel helpless and frustrated that he could not be there for them. In another letter he wrote, "How are you? Where are you? I miss you." I was confused as to why he wrote that. He sounded upset and maybe he was not getting my letters at the time. It must be very hard out there. Most of his other letters are full of encouragement. He wrote once, "Be patient and remember that what God has is better than all this life." He sent me his will in Arabic on two ocasions. This was particularly upsetting. I was worried because his tone was very serious and he was writing things like, "If I die, my body should be buried in Madinah...my wife should remarry someone who fears Allah from Madinah...my children should be raised in an Islamic manner." I cried for two weeks as I was worried for his life and I did not know what he was going through.

CP: Does your family have a lawyer? How has your husband's legal case been progressing?

UA: We have a lawyer, Natalia Garcia. She has been writing letters to the British Government and American embassies on our behalf. She wrote 2 letters to the US Government who, in six months, have replied to none of them. There does not seem to be much progress.

CP: What has been the response of the British and Saudi Governments?

UA: His family in Saudi Arabia is in touch with an agency similar to the Red Cross, that provides occasional updates to families of the detainees. As for the actual Saudi Government, we have not been in touch with them. The British Home Office say that they are unable to help us as he was not a British Citizen. I am British, my children are British and my husband was in the process of obtaining his British citizenship.

CP: Could you share with us a little about the qualities and interests your husband possessed that made him unique?

UA: He was always smiling and making us laugh. Always looking on the bright side of things. If he would be ill or in pain he would never complain. If I would be ill and complain he would tell me to say Alhamdulillah, and that other people around the world had things so much worse. He loved his children and was very helpful with taking care of them and housework. Sometimes, when he would return from outdoors he would sit and play with the children for hours. He loved to spend time with the kids, would always talk about them, what they did that day etc.

When I had our children, he would be very helpful and encouraging throughout my pregnancy. He would say, "Thank Allah for the inconvenience and for what you are going to get in return." It really helped. When I had my fourth child I didn't know how I was going to do it without him, but Allah made it easy and I realised the real help comes from Him.

He was friendly and caring to everyone, regardless of their religion or race. If he would see anyone in need of help he would stop and help them. Once we were driving somewhere and he saw a non-Muslim lady crying on the footpath. He stopped and asked her if she was ok. He would help people with their broken down cars, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

He would wake up for extra prayers in the night (tahajjud) and wake me up too with the words, "Wake up, ask Allah for whatever you want." After the Fajr dawn prayer, he would say words of Allah's remembrance rather than chatting.

CP: You mentioned that you have four children - can you tell us how they have been affected by what has happened? Where do they think their father is? Do they talk about him?

UA: The worst affected was our eldest daughter, Sara. She was 4 at the time and when she realised he was not back she became unwell. She cried day and night for him. When she would be hurt or ill she would cry with his name, as he was the one who always cared for her at these times. She refused to go to school saying I want my daddy to take me. I once told her to make dua (supplicate) for him. She asked me why she should supplicate for him, so I replied that because he was sick. She cried for the whole day worrying about him. She is very intelligent and since she was very attached to him, it took nearly 6 months for her to come to terms with it.

My children are very sensitive, so I have told him he has gone abroad to study. I think they would take it very badly if they knew the truth. I try to hide it from them when I am upset or when I cry, but that is not always possible.

Sometimes my son Abdullah gets upset and frustrated and says, "Why doesn't his teacher let him come home? I want to punch the teacher." Abdullah once said to me with tears in his eyes, "Why doesn't Daddy come and then he can take me to the Haram (Sacred Prophet's Mosque in Madinah) in his car. Maybe his car is broken down?"

My father once took Abdur-Rahman on a train ride and asked him, "What does your mum say about your Daddy?" He replied, "She cries." My father asked him, "Do you cry with her?" He said, "No, Abdullah does. I just cry to Allah."

They pray for him. Abdullah was just 2 1/2 during those early days and he would read, "Aooutho bi kalimatillahittaamma min sharree maa khalaq" (I seek refuge in Allah from the evil of what He has created.) and say I am reading it for my Daddy. They often take toys such as cars and toy mobile phones and pretend they are talking to him on the phone like, "OK, OK, so you are on your way home?" Even the youngest Abdul-Aziz does it and he doesn't even know who his Daddy is because he has never seen him or spoken to him until this Day. I wrote that in a letter to my husband once, that the children do that, and he replied that when he read that, he cried a lot.

CP: What has been the response of your husband's family in Saudi Arabia and how have they dealt with the situation?

UA: I am in touch with my husband's elder sister in Saudi Arabia. She speaks to the Saudi agency (Red Cross equivalant) dealing with relatives of detainees, from time to time. Apparently, they even gave her a photo of him in Guantanamo Bay and they keep reassuring her he is doing fine. She is very supportive and always concerned about me and the children. She says I cannot eat or sleep. I'm always thinking about my brother, what he is having to eat and how he is sleeping. I haven't spoken to his mother for a while now. She cries and prays for him a lot. When I was speaking to my sister-in-law, I could hear my mother-in-law crying in the background and praying for him. She prays tahajjud (night) prayers for him every night.

CP: Have you or your your family had any dreams regarding your husband since he was captured? Has your husband had any dreams about his detention or release?

UA: He wrote once that he sees me and the children in his dreams, but doesn't give any details. I see him from time to time in my dreams. I have seen several times that he is back in our house, coming up the stairs smiling in new, white clothes. I see him here with us playing with the kids. Once I saw him in a dream coming to my father's house and he had a very upset and serious expression. He was telling my father that whatever was happening in Guantanamo Bay was very very bad.

CP: How did you feel about the article in the Daily Mirror in which a freed Briton described how inmates are being tortured, abused and humiliated in Guantanamo Bay?

UA: I have not read the article yet but I have heard about it as well as the TV interview given by brother Jamal Al-Harith. I was shocked when I heard how terribly he was treated. I felt detached and lifeless. I could not sleep all night, different things were going round and round in my head. I kept thinking, if this is how they are treating the ones they eventually freed, what are they doing to the ones they have kept behind?

CP: What message would you like to give to the World about your husband's detention in Guantanamo Bay?

UA: My husband did not kill anyone, he did not plan the attacks of September 11th and he should not have to pay for it. All he wanted to do was help the poor and needy abroad because he really felt for people without clothes and food. He had worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia and wanted to use his skills to help these people.

CP: Finally, what do you think about our website?

UA: I think its a very good way of letting people know about these brothers forgotten by so many and who they are. Insha-Allah it will raise the awareness amongst the Muslims. May Allah reward you all for your efforts.

If there are any media organisations interested in interviewing any members of Shaker's UK resident family, please contact their lawyer, Natalia Garcia, on +0044 (0)778 887 3420