After being held without charge or trial for fourteen years – years of torture and abuse – Mohamedou Ould Slahi has been freed. Slahi was one of two so-called “Special Projects” the brutal treatment of whom Donald Rumsfeld personally approved. The abuse included beatings, extreme isolation, sleep deprivation, frigid rooms, shackling in stress positions, and threats against both Slahi and his mother.

On 2 June 2016 he was cleared by a review board for release, and on 17 October 2016 he was returned to his family. An international campaign had pushed for his freedom, with more than 100,000 people signing petitions in support. 60 prisoners remain in Guantánamo, 19 of whom have been cleared for release.