A Taxi and a New Beginning for Sufiyan

Sufiyan Barhoumi lives in Algeria and has been searching for a job for almost two years since his release from Guantánamo Bay prison in 2022, where he was held for almost 20 years without charge. No one will hire him because of the stigma associated with being a former Guantánamo Bay prisoner. Now a group of friends and supporters have come together to raise funds that will be used to buy a late model car. This will allow him to become an independent taxi driver. Having his own car and working for a car service will enable him to generate an income on his own and thereby cover expenses such as rent and groceries, and to begin to rebuild his life.

Sufiyan was imprisoned at Guantánamo in June 2002, along with hundreds of other men. He was stripped of his identity and labeled prisoner 694. All charges against Sufiyan were dropped by 2008. However, he continued to be held year after year, even after the US military's Periodic Review Board officially cleared him for release in August 2016 . He languished in the facility, enduring psychological and physical torment for a total of almost 2 decades. He was finally released in 2022.

The assistance he has received since 2022 has been minimal. The US government has not provided him with any sort of compensation or funding to assist in readjusting to civilian life, even though he was held for many years without charge and subjected to abuse while incarcerated. Sufiyan is now near his family, but they do not have the economic means necessary to buy him a car or cover his basic expenses.

The car purchased will be a used vehicle, probably a late-model Toyota, with an automatic transmission. The latter feature is important because Sufiyan suffered an injury that limits the use of one of his hands. The car will be purchased, insured, and registered using the funds collected through this initiative.

Please consider contributing to this project. No donation is too small. This taxi will be a foundation that allows Sufiyan to rebuild his life.

For additional details about Sufiyan's case, visit the Center for Constitutional Rights:

https://ccrjustice.org/sufyian-barhoumi

THANK YOU.