Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison - Edited by Sarah Mirk - ★★★★.¼

EDITOR: Sarah Mirk

ILLUSTRATORS: Gerardo Alba, Kasia Babis, Alex Beguez, Tracy Chahwan, Nomi Kane, Omar Khouri, Kane Lynch, Maki Naro, Hazel Newlewant, Jeremy Nguyen, Chelsea Saunders, Abu Zubaydah

GENRE: Graphic Nonfiction

PUBLICATION DATE: September 8, 2020

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: An illustrated anthology containing true-life narratives related to the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison. Horrifying and infuriating. Definitely recommended, but make sure you are in a good headspace when you read this.

The below review comes from an angry place; I apologise if it sounds aggressive. I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s sentiments, but I found it impossible to control my emotions while penning this.

I wrote and rewrote my review for this book thrice before finally giving up on all hopes of diplomatic politeness. Each time, no matter how much I tried to stay on point, I was going off topic into a rant about US politics (both present and past), its spiteful attitude towards people of non-white origin, and its total apathy to any issues faced by non-white people. Reading this book reminded me of all the reasons many countries have historically looked upon the US as the world’s bully.

In 2007, a Pakistani dramatic film was making waves across nations. ‘Khuda Kay Liye’ (released as ‘In the Name of God’ in international markets) narrated the story of two young Muslim brothers whose lives changed radically after the 9/11 attacks in the USA. Certain scenes in the movie were so shocking that my husband and I wondered if things were really that bad in the USA or if a certain cinematic license had been taken. Reading this book shows me that the movie was actually a toned-down version of the truth. The facts are even more horrendous. And unlike the movie, real life doesn’t always come with a happy or hopeful ending.

As the tagline indicates, this graphic anthology contains “true accounts from the world’s most infamous prison”. It begins with an introduction to Guantanamo Bay ”Detention Center”, explaining how it came into being and why it isn't called a prison and why its captives aren’t called “prisoners”. (The reason is so unbelievably devious!) The introduction is among the most powerful and bravest I have ever read in nonfiction. It offers several shocking stats related to the prison, not a single one of which is positive.

The main content comes in twelve chapters. The first and the last chapters document the author’s quest to capture some insider perspectives into the place. The middle ten chapters each contain a graphical depiction of original interviews taken by the author with various people who have experienced Guantanamo, whether as an inmate or a legal counsel or a military employee.

I won't go into major details as I want you to learn the story of these people from them directly. But here are some reveals that really caused me to blow my fuse:

1. The Guantanamo Base is in Cuba. If you are wondering why Cuba allows such atrocities on their soil, you need to read up on how the USA effectively stole this land from Cuba by a ridiculous one-sided, coerced and indefinite lease and is refusing to return the land.

2. Remember the interrogations you see in Hollywood movies? Yeah, those don’t happen in real life. Do I need to tell you that the Guantanamo interrogation techniques are a hundred times worse?

3. Post the 9/11 attacks, thousands of dollars were paid to Afghani and Pakistani locals in exchange for information about suspects. No one ever verified if the information they provided was legitimate or accurate. Common sense tells us how this system can be misused.

4. The inmates at Guantanamo are denied even habeas corpus, which is the basic right of all prisoners. Oh right, they are not “prisoners”! 🙄

5. There is a gift shop in Guantanamo filled with memorabilia! 😠 The cover art is an artistic rendition of a postcard sold in this shop.

Each subsequent interview is full of such aggravating content that I couldn’t even read this 200-page book at a go. I was forced to take a break after every chapter. Every narrative is full of just one thing: inhumanity. Or to be clear, the US inhumanity towards people of other ethnicities and religions (Read: Muslim). These actions have possibly gone without a major hue and cry either because the general public doesn’t know about them or because they aren’t concerned about them as the ones tortured aren’t white or because they genuinely believe the narrative they have been fed: that the inmates are terrorists.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the above, that my dominant emotion throughout this read was never sadness or sympathy. It was always anger, only anger. I had a massive headache by the time I completed the book, which unfortunately was late at night so I couldn’t even get a good night’s rest.

Thankfully, the book isn't entirely dismal. There are some good US citizens who are fighting the system from the inside. But this is akin to facing a tsunami while sitting in a small rowboat. Their position is quite weak and their chances of defeating it abysmal, but the very fact that they haven’t given up is worth praising. It was satisfying to read about one brave Indian-origin lawyer Alka Pradhan who is also a part of this group. I love her spunk.

The illustrations are unique in two ways. One, a special colour palette has been developed for this book by the main illustrator. It is filled with “sunset tones” to convey the dismay and hope of the stories. These hues create a very different kind of visual impact. Two, the book is illustrated by not one but twelve illustrators, with each person’s story being sketched by a separate artist. This add to the sensory experience, as the jump in artistic styles conveys visually the change in the narrative to the next person’s recollection.

The only point where the book could have done better for me was in having added details in some of the narratives. Given that the book tells us ten true-life accounts within a few pages, it doesn’t get enough space to develop all aspects of the person’s experience. For some of the stories, I’d have loved to have some more information.

I find it unbelievably ridiculous that this state of affairs, and even the “detention center”, still exists in 2025. This book was published in 2020, which means a lot of the information has been compiled from even before and some of it might be outdated. In January 2025, Trump signed a memorandum to expand the “Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center” to house up to 30,000 migrants under detention. This is separate from the military prison, and the migrant facility is run by the notorious ICE. I can't even imagine the situation there at present or in the near future.

Read this disturbing but brave book. Don’t dismiss this as a routine graphical nonfiction. This is investigative journalism in graphical format. After all, awareness is the first step towards action.

I just want to add… It is high time all countries realise that a majority of white-dominated economies have been founded on and funded with the blood and sweat of non-white people. So enough with the racism already!