I survived the horror of Guantánamo. Why is it still open 21 years later?

The US prison at Guantánamo Bay opened 21 years ago this month. For 21 years, the extrajudicial detention facility has held a total of 779 men between eight known camps

- MANSOOR ADAYFI

In two decades, Guantánamo grew from a small, makeshift camp of chainlink cages into a maximum-security facility of cement bunker-like structures that costs close to $540m a year to operate. Twenty-one years is a long time - a generation was born and came of age in that time. Four American presidents have served. The World Trade Center was rebuilt.

Of those 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo, nine died there; 706 have been released or transferred out; 20 have been recommended for transfer but remain there; 12 have been charged with crimes; two have been convicted; and three will be held in indefinite law-of-war detention until someone demands their release.

I was 19 when I was sent to Guantánamo. I arrived on 9 February 2002, blindfolded, hooded, shackled, beaten. When soldiers removed my hood, all I saw were cages filled with orange figures. I was given a number and became suspended between life and death.

I didn't know a lot about America. I knew it was supposed to be a land of laws and opportunity. We all believed our detention would be short. We hadn't done anything. I never could have imagined that I would spend eight years in solitary confinement, that I would be held for 15 years and released without being charged.