Fahd Ghazy

Fahd Ghazy is a Yemeni-national who was detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba for 14 years. Fahd arrived at Guantánamo in February 2002. He was only 17 when his nightmare began. Fahd was cleared for transfer by President Bush in 2007, and again by the Obama administration in 2009. On January 13, 2016, after spending more than a third of his life unjustly detained, the U.S. government transferred Fahd to Oman.

Fahd was born on May 2, 1984 in a small village outside of the Yemen's capital. He was married and his daughter, Hafsa, was born shortly before he was sent to Guantanamo. Fahd was an ambitious student. He attended the Al-Najah primary and secondary school in the district near his home, and graduated first in his class. Those results won him a scholarship to attend university, news of which he received while already imprisoned in Guantánamo. Despite his treatment and the length of his detention, Fahd continued to prepare himself for his release. He has mastered English while at Guantánamo and has turned his energy to learning Spanish, and read voraciously – all in the hope that one day he will be able to secure a good job and provide for his family.

Through moving interviews with his family in Yemen in 2014, Fahd's story came to life in the short film, Waiting for Fahd: One Family's Hope for Life Beyond Guantanamo.

“I have been waiting a lifetime just to start my life again.” - Fahd Ghazy