Review of The Road to Guantanamo (2006) by Stavros V — 21 Jun 2008

Based on a true story, The Road to Guantanamo tells the story of the Tipton Three, three British citizens who were arrested in Afghanistan in early 2002. The three men- Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal, and Shafiq Rasul, were detained at Guantanamo Bay for two years.

While detained they were denied legal representation and experienced severe mistreatment and coercion under duress in attempts to solicit confessions. They were released in 2004 and have provided some of the best first hand accounts of what the government is doing to suspected low-level terrorists.

The meat of the film, which is basically a fifty-minute montage, depicts members of the Tipton Three dragged before American interrogators where they are yelled at, sworn at, and belittled. They are thrown into dank cells, put into stressful positions, and kept in solitary confinement with confession to being a member of Al Qaeda the only means to relief.

These are chilling scenes, and will cause extreme disturbance, as you will surely be imagining all the other innocent people who are put through similar treatment, and all of those still going through it.