He was a regular kid.
Fahd, who's from a small village in Yemen, was a good kid and a great student who was loved by his family. When he was 17, he was detained and sent to Guantanamo.
Then he was gone, just gone...
His family, however, didn't know what happened to him. They didn't hear from him for two months. When they finally did, they heard about Guantanamo for the first time.
...for 12 years and counting.
That was almost 13 years ago. Fahd is still stuck in Gitmo, even though he's been cleared for release not once, but twice. (President Bush cleared him for release in 2007, and President Obama again cleared him in 2009.)
And actually, get this:
His attorney explains, "Every prominent national security agency in the U.S. government has unanimously declared that he can leave Guantanamo. That's the FBI, the CIA, the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. All of the agencies that American citizens rely on to keep them safe have determined the five can go home. But because the Obama administration has refused to repatriate the Yemenis, or resettle them in third-world countries, he is trapped there, almost entirely because of his citizenship."
Fahd hasn't given up.
He's worked hard to prevent the past 12 years of detainment from claiming who he is. He taught himself English. He learns new things. He writes to the prison officials for new educational materials. Fahd is ready to be released and to live his life ā to go back to school and to work.
How much longer does he have to wait?
Watch Fahd's story if you have the time. There's nothing fair or just about what's happening to him.
