Sarah Mirk > Quotes

“Often, facts matter less than the stories we tell ourselves.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“When you have so little, you must stand for what you have and defend those who have less and are weaker, even if they are a banana rat. - Mansoor Adayfi, who was imprisoned for 14.5 years without being charged with any crime”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“No matter what happens in my relationships, the things that hold true are honesty, friendship, and waffles.”
― Sarah Mirk, Sex from Scratch: Making Your Own Relationship Rules

“Even when they are getting released, "The rule is they leave as they arrive- which means sensory deprivation: goggles, shackles and diapering.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“A core part of the "regime of control" at Guantanamo was to make it impossible for detainees to trust their sense of reality. This creates an immense sense of paranoia and uncertainty. And their fears aren't unfounded.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“I just wish we would learn from our history instead of repeating it.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“The U.S. government did an extremely good job of fearmongering since the very beginning. These were monsters, these were people who had perpetrated the worst crime on Americans ever. That was the false messaging and it was quite successful.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“Guantánamo is a naval base... The Cuban government leased the land to the United States for $4,085 a year. After the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s, Castro repeatedly asked for the land back. The U.S. refused. We continue to this day to send an annual check for the lease, which the Cuban government ceremoniously declines to cash.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“We created an entire new legal system for brown men. If these were white men from France or Germany, there is no way Guantanamo would exist. There is no way we would have gotten away with being able to create a prison camp on land that's not our territory specifically for the purpose of not applying our laws. Racism is the reason for it, and nobody wants to talk about that. If a white man had been Waterboarded, I guarantee you that everyone would at least acknowledge that it's torture. - Alka Pradhan, Human Rights lawyer and attorney for Guantanamo prisoners”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“Months after the supreme court ruled that Guantanamo detainees had a right to Habeas Corpus, most of the prisoners had no access to a lawyer. Lawyers were still unable to get their names.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“We don't want to admit we were wrong, and we have people that shouldn't be here, and it may come out that we're torturing them.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“Most people care more about their paycheck, their next meal, and their comfort, than other people being mistreated.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“I think when you tap into fear, it's incredibly strong and it's incredibly moving.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“The detainee gets a one-page summary of the allegations against him before he goes to the hearings. That's all he gets. The PRB says, "We're not telling you to confess to things that you did not do". But the practical outcome is the same. If he reads it over and says, "That's all untrue," the detainee is accused of a "lack of contrition. They're accused of making false statements because they're denying the allegations. This is not a legal system used anywhere else: It was made up just for Guantanamo by the Obama administration.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“We can't have acquittals. We've been holding these guys for years. How are we going to explain to the world why we've been keeping these guys all these years if they're acquitted? No. We can't have acquittals. We've got to have convictions.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“People are afraid of things- they're afraid economically and for their security. Particularly when you have leadership that preys on fear.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“I think that here we are, 17 years later, and we're still saying so many of the things we were saying at the very beginning: this prison is premised on false information.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison

“It affected me, but I still went ahead and just, you know, compiled what I needed to compile. I guess people don't want to make waves. They just want to do their time, have their tour of duty over, and go home. People that did make those waves or did push back, they didn't stay there long. They'd be sent back to the States. They wouldn't rise in the ranks.”
― Sarah Mirk, Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison