Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States imprisoned more than 750 men at its naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees, ranging from teenagers to elderly men from over forty different countries, were held for years without charges, trial, or a fair hearing. Without any legal status or protection, they were truly outside the law: imprisoned in secret, denied communication with their families, and subjected to extreme isolation, physical and mental abuse, and in some instances, torture.
"The goal of the book was to provide an inside account of Guantánamo, the detainees, and the struggle for justice. Our fear was that many of these stories would be lost if they were not captured, and the truth about Guantánamo might be lost to history. With the detainees effectively silenced by the U.S. government for so many years, it fell to their lawyers to speak out. In the book, the lawyers bear witness, as primary observers, to the dehumanization, the arbitrariness, and the despair that lies behind Guantánamo. The book also contains, however, some moments of humor and of hope." —Mark Denbeaux, from an interview for Harper's Magazine