Immediately after September 11, the United States created an entirely new criminal justice system at Guantanamo Bay. It was a prison and a courtroom designed to handle prisoners suspected of being members of the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
But to do what we wanted to do at Guantanamo, which is to interrogate detainees the way we wanted and hold them indefinitely without charge, we needed to use an old system for holding prisoners. Time-tested rules had to be set aside. And the consequences fell on ordinary people. Thousands of soldiers, hundreds of prisoners, all rushing to perform the same experiment.
Great journalism has been reported on the legal maneuvers that justified Guantanamo, the abuse of detainees, and the politics and policies. But “Serial” reporters Sarah Koenig and Dana Chivis were chasing the inside story that only comes from people who have experienced Guantanamo: photos of Guantanamo. But for years, the best stories they heard about Guantanamo were all off the record. But they stuck with it, thinking that once enough people returned to civilian life, perhaps they would be willing to put their stories on the record. A few years ago, the Serial team began contacting people again, including guards, interrogators, commanders, lawyers, chaplains, translators, and former prisoners. Over 100 people. And a surprising number of them said, “Okay, I'm ready.'' I'll explain what happened.
'Serial' Season 4 tells the story of Guantánamo, told by people who lived through key moments in Guantánamo's evolution and who know what others don't know what it's like to be trapped in an improvised justice system. It's history.
