David Hicks - Guantanamo: My journey

In 1999 a young man from suburban Adelaide set out on an overseas trip that would change his life forever. Initially, he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road.

But events would set him on a different path. He would be deemed a terrorist, one of George W. Bushs worst of the worst. He would be incarcerated in the worlds most notorious prison, Guantanamo Bay.

And in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, even dogs wont live, he was to languish for five and a half years, suffering horror, torture and abuse, while Australians were told who he was by politicians, the media and foreign governments.

The publication of GUANTANAMO: MY JOURNEY caused a stir. Everyone had an opinion on him. Read it now and decide for yourself.

Theres so much more at randomhouse.com.au

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.

Abraham Lincoln

The media has long proposed that one of the many questions I should publicly address is, What was I doing in Afghanistan? To those who would ask such a question, I would first answer with a few questions of my own What could I have done to make the treatment I endured acceptable? Is there any situation that would warrant such treatment? For that is what the above question provokes in me. Can selected people be treated harshly either physically, psychologically, politically or legally because of the allegations aimed at them based on their actions, intentions, beliefs or myriad other excuses? Should anyone be abused in any form, at any time? Is there a crime or accusation that warrants torture? My own set of questions aside, my book will address how I came to Afghanistan and many other topics truthfully, honestly and in full detail from my birth, to events leading to Guantanamo, what took place there and beyond.

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to tell my story publicly, despite all the plays, documentaries, magazines, newspaper articles and books claiming to know it. You can now go on my journey. It is a view of the world through my eyes, back then as I experienced it. I have not spoken publicly until now for many reasons. A gag order was placed on me, and then a control order. I have been privately threatened with reimprisonment; I have also been waiting for my US lawyers to say that my conviction is now null and void, including the plea agreement that prevented me from collaterally attacking my conviction and publicly discussing my treatment. There are other reasons as well; but, most importantly, I have needed time to recover and heal from my ordeal, to receive treatment for torture and trauma, and generally learn how to adapt to a normal life again after so many years of isolation. This book is my story and my way of simply putting down the facts how things were and are after so many years of misinformation. The record cannot be left as it currently stands.

My story and who I am as a person is something so many people have an opinion on already. Whatever you may think of me now, in the past, or after reading this book, you will have a much better understanding of how the following events came to pass and why. You will see that I am not, and have never been, a supporter of terrorism. I am not a public threat. I did not harm anyone I never attempted or planned to nor was I accused of such. And I did not break any Australian, US or international laws.

I hope you find that this book is not only a story of injustice, but also a story of hope.

N OT THAT IT MATTERS , but I wonder what the time is. Sunlight struggles in vain to penetrate this enclosed room through the few millimetres of gap under the only door. The hue is slightly different, more pure and pleasing than the artificial light that dominates the inside of this enclosure twenty-four hours a day. I am confident that it is daytime.

Another clue to placing myself in the twenty-four-hour cycle is when the food arrives and what the meal consists of. It has been some hours since breakfast was served different in look but similar in taste to the other meals so I narrow the time of day down to late morning.