Al-Jazeera Cameraman released from Gitmo

After being held for SIX years, Sudanese native Sami al-Haj has finally been released. From the AP story:

Haj was arrested by the Pakistani army on the Afghan border in December 2001 and had been held without charge at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since June 2002.

The Pentagon would not immediately comment to AFP about Haj’s release, but press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which has campaigned for him to be freed, voiced relief.

“Sami Al-Haj should never have been held so long,” said secretary general Robert Menard in a statement released in Washington.

“US authorities never proved that he had been involved in any kind of criminal activity. This case is yet another example of the injustice reigning in Guantanamo. The base should be closed as quickly as possible.”

Reporters Without Borders said Haj had been tortured and subjected to some 200 interrogation sessions. In January 2007 he launched a hunger strike and has been force-fed on several occasions, the group said in a statement.

I am glad he has been released but I wonder about his physical and psychological state. Six friggin years and of course he was tortured…its the American Way! Around 800 detainees have passed through the camp since it opened, and some 275 “terror” suspects are still held there.