Two men released from the US army base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, were in Dublin today to tell their story of being held captive for nearly three years before eventually being cleared.
Camp X-Ray where the three men were held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Rhuhel Ahmed and Shafiq Rasul were speaking at a press conference to launch an Amnesty International report on rendition flights and ahead of a screening of the film, The Road to Guantánamo.
The men, who were released in March 2004, claim that they were subjected to abuse and beatings during their "arbitrary" detention at the US base.
Mr Rasul said he still does not know why he was kept in the Guantánamo Bay for 2 1/2 years.
"The worst part was not knowing what was going on," Mr Rasul said. "My hands were chained together and I was told to write to my family - it was impossible".
Mr Ahmed said the film was not just about Guantánamo but about prisons all over the world like Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
The men who say they still have had no apology from the British and US governments consider themselves the "lucky ones".
Shortly before their release they were accused of visiting the al-Farouq training camp in Afghanistan and appearing on a videotape with Osama bin Laden there in 2000. However, through British counter-intelligence (originally intended to corroborate the prosecution for a US military tribunal) the men could prove they were in England at the time.
The Road to Guantánamotells the story of three men from the town of Tipton, near Birmingham - Mr Ahmed, Mr Rasul and Asif Iqbal - who went to Pakistan for a Mr Iqbal's wedding just prior to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Just before the wedding the men went to Afghanistan in an attempt to help the victims of the war.
A few days later they realised their mistake and tried to leave the country, only to find it more difficult to get out. Another of their friends from Tipton, Munir Ali, disappeared and was never seen again,. His family still don't know what happened to him.
The remaining three men were arrested in Afghanistan by the US-backed Northern Alliance before being handed over to the Americans and eventually sent on Guantánamo Bay.
They will be participating in a Q&A session after The Road to Guantánamo, along with the film's co-director, Mat Whitecross. The screening will take place this evening at 6pm in the IFI in Dublin's Temple Bar.
