Unlike most people his age who have spent the past seven years growing up and going to school, Mohamed el-Gharani endured the majority of his time as a teenager at Guantánamo Bay. Perhaps the youngest of all the detainees held at the U.S. prison, el-Gharani was first arrested in Pakistan in 2001 at age 14. After being tortured by Pakistani officials, he was handed over to American military forces, who accused el-Gharani of being a member of al-Qaeda and fighting in Afghanistan.

 

He was shipped to Guantánamo, where he was called names on account of his dark skin, hung from his wrists on numerous occasions, and subjected to prolonged sleep deprivation, isolation and painful stress positions. Late last year a U.S. court judge ordered el-Gharani freed, saying the government lacked sufficient evidence to prove the allegations against the now 21-year-old.

 

Although born in Saudi Arabia, el-Gharani’s parents are from Chad—so the U.S. shipped him to the central African country last month. He was promptly thrown into jail by local police for eight days because he lacked papers showing citizenship. El-Gharani has never lived in Chad and does not speak the language. Still, since being released, he is happy. “Walking around with no guards, with no shackles, it’s beautiful,” he told the BBC News. Now he is waiting to see how he can reconnect with his family.

-Noel Brinkerhoff