Film charts detainees' Guantanamo nightmare

By Andrew McCathie Feb 14, 2006, 17:16 GMT

Rizwan Ahmed, Shahid Iqbal, Arfan Usman, Farhad Harun.

Berlin - The plight of those detained at the US Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects was relived in a powerful film which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival Tuesday.

'The Road to Guantanamo' by British directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross documents the nightmare which unfolded for a group of young British Muslims who arrested in Afghanistan following the US bombing and dispatched to the American prison in Cuba.

'We want to show the world what was happening in Guantanamo,' said Shafiq Rasul, one of the British Muslims held at the prison, told a packed press conference after the screening.

'We want it closed down,' he said. 'It is against human rights.'

Shafiq Rasul's presence at the movie's release with another detainee, Ruhel Ahmed, helped to add to the press conference's charged atmosphere.

'The film tries to tell their story,' Winterbottom told journalists with the movie detailing their mishandling, humiliation and outright torture at the hands of American soldiers and interrogators after they were mistaken for Taliban fighters.

Shafiq Rasul, Ruhel Ahmed and two other friends had travelled to Pakistan for a wedding shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US before deciding to travel to neighbouring Afghanistan to see what life was really like under the Taliban and to help the Afghan people with social projects.

One of them disappeared during the US bomb attacks while three others later spend two years at Guantanamo deprived of any contact with the outside world before they were finally released as a result of what Shafiq Rasul said was a deal with London.

'They are normal people simply caught up in events', said Winterbottom insisting that 'The Road to Guantanamo' was not an anti- American film, and added that it simply wanted to put a human face on those held at Guantanamo.

But then, the Berlin film festival has never shied away from exploring contemporary political issues.

When describing their life at Guantanamo Bay, both Shafiq Rasul and Ruhel Ahmed also mentioned an Australian terror suspect David Hicks currently held at the prison.

They said that at first, Hicks had been interrogated frequently and had been kept in solitary confinement.

Shafiq Rasul went on to say that the interrogators had tried to pressure Hicks by telling him that while the British government was helping other detainees, the Australian government was not doing anything for him.

In a sense 'The Road to Guantanamo' represents the second part of Winterbottom's look at the aftermath of 9/11 and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

His film, 'In This World,' which was the story of the sometimes harrowing trip of two Afghan refugees to enter Britain illegally won him the Berlin festival's coveted Golden Bear three years ago.

In both Guantanamo and 'In This World' documentary movie footage is combined with feature film material to tell the movie's story.

After a relatively slow start to this year's film festival, 'The Road to Guantanamo' has jolted the festival as competition heats up for the festival's awards.

Both Shafiq Rasul and Ruhel Ahmed said that their experience had strengthened their faith in Islam and helped them to endure their ordeal.

But they said that the reaction to their story from Britain's Muslim community had been mixed and they hoped the film might help make people believe what had happened to them.

Despite recurring nightmares following their release, both men believe that they have to move on and to put Guantanamo behind them.

'After a while you have to start your life,' said Shafiq Rasul. 'You have to put it to the back of your mind.'