Interview with Wali Mohammad's Son

Cageprisoners interview with the son of Wali Mohammed – a Pakistani detainee who has been incarcerated for the last seven years in Guantanamo Bay without charge or trial. His son, Mohammad, speaks about the details of his father’s case and the impact it has had on the family.

Cageprisoners: What was your father’s occupation before his arrest?

Mohammad: He was a banker.

CP: What was his personality like?

M: He was a very kind and helpful person. He was very well off and often used to help orphans and widows financially.

CP: What was his relationship like with his family?

M: My father had a very good relationship will all his children. When he used to come home from work, we would hear his car coming and go out to greet him. He would hug us, pick us up, sit us on his shoulders and play with us. He also used to encourage us, advise us to busy ourselves in learning and read the Qur’an.

It was difficult for him to be away from us. Whenever he went abroad for a business trip to Dubai, he would call every five minutes to see how we were.

CP: When was he arrested and what were the circumstances of his arrest?

M: Sometime in 2002 one evening at about 10:00pm the door was knocked, we opened it and the Pakistani police entered while there were guests in our house. They all came out and were stopped by the police. The police asked, who amongst is Wali Mohammed? Their father stepped forward and said I am Wali Mohammed. As soon as he had identified himself the police approached him and leveled a gun to his head. They marched him out of the house and put him in a police car. They kept him for some time and then handed him over to the Americans.

We are not sure how long he was in Pakistan after being taken by the Pakistani police, but the first letter we received from their him was from Guantanamo bay and that was about 7/8 months after his arrest.

We think that another banker who had taken a loan from our father was the cause of his being arrested. That banker had no intention to return the money and instead paid some form of bribe to the police to have our father arrested and handed over to the Americans. We do not know this for certain, this is only a suspicion.

CP: How was he treated by the police after he was arrested?

M: We don’t know for sure and we couldn’t ascertain anything of that nature from his letters, because we would never receive them complete. A former detainee, Mullah Abdus-Salaam Zaeef who had been at Guantanamo Bay mentioned in a book he wrote after being freed the type of beating he had received. He also mentioned that there had been six other people who had been beaten in Pakistan and that our father was one of them.

CP: What happened to your father after he was arrested, where was he taken?

M: He was kept for a time unknown to us in Pakistan and then he was taken to Kandahar for a period of time. The length of time is unknown, but from there he was taken straight to Guantanamo in the mid of 2002.

CP: Do you know anything about how he was treated at Kandahar?

M: We don’t know.

CP: Was he held in Camp X-Ray?

M: Yes he was.

CP: What do you know about how your father has been treated in Guantanamo from the letters that you have received from him?

M: The letters that were sent between the detainees and their families were strictly reviewed. They were not allowed to write anything apart from we are fine. If they wrote anything else that put the Americans at Guantanamo in a poor light it was crossed out of their letter.

CP: You were able to speak to him over the phone? When was this and how long did you speak for?

M: Four months ago and we spoke for 1 hour and twenty minutes.

CP: How did he sound on the phone?

M: He sounded well on the phone, but at points become emotional and started crying.

CP: How old is he?

M: 45

CP: What has been the impact of his detention on your family?

M: His absence has affected us all deeply, but it has been the most difficult for our youngest brother who, after our father’s arrest could not stop crying almost continuously for two months. Everytime he heard a car driving by he would stop crying and become happy, because he thought that his father had returned home, but when he realised that it wasn’t his father, he would resume his crying.

It has been a lot for our mother to bear. Her sleeping pattern has changed since then; she stays up late at night in anticipation of any news of his return. She wakes up for tahajjud and makes du’a, crying to Allah to bring him back to us quickly.

CP: What do you feel about the fact that Obama has promised to close Guantanamo down?

M: We’ve heard this news, but we won’t believe it until it happens.

CP: How is your family surviving financially?

M: After our father was arrested, the wealth that he had accumulated started to decline steadily. The situation became bad to the extent that our eldest brother left education at the age of about 15 and started selling cotton on the street in order to bring some money in for the family. He has recently gone to Kabul and is now working with our cousin earning only $300/month.

CP: How many siblings are you?

M: We are three boys and seven girls. The youngest memorised the Qur’an completely, but because of his depression, he has forgotten almost all of it.