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Outlook: The Guantanamo Bay Muslim chaplain accused of being a spy

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James Yee in uniform in front of a sign reading 'Guantanamo'

12/05/2022 GMT

The Guantanamo Bay Muslim chaplain accused of being a spy

BBC World Service - Outlook, The Guantanamo Bay Muslim chaplain accused of being a spy

James Yee was a US soldier who found himself behind bars, threatened with execution

James Yee went from being the US army Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to a prisoner accused of spying for extremists, and threatened with execution.

James Yee is a Muslim convert who became one of the first Muslim chaplains serving in the US military. After the 9/11 attacks he became the army’s 'poster boy' for religious tolerance, and was handpicked to work at the new Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. His job was to tend to the religious needs of the detainees, those whom the US called unlawful combatants captured during America's war on terror. But while he was there James heard multiple accounts of abuses against prisoners during interrogation sessions, which he reported up the chain of command. Then in 2003, seemingly out of the blue, he was arrested and accused of being a spy who was aiding extremists - crimes that could carry the death penalty. He tells Emily Webb about his ordeal.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Rebecca Vincent

(Photo: James Yee at Guantanamo Bay. Credit: US Army Public Affairs)

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