The Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side: Seeking Justice In Guantanamo Bay

by Clive Stafford Smith

At a July 17, 2003 press conference held jointly with Prime Minister Tony Blair, President George W. Bush described the prisoners held in Guantanamo: "The only thing I know for certain is that these are bad people." They are, supposedly, the worst of the worst of the world's terrorists. Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith is one of the few people in the world who has had independent access to the prisoners at Guantanamo, representing more than fifty. Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side is his remarkable account of his descent into the darkly comic world of Guantanamo, a legal black hole in which the bleakness of the surroundings are punctuated by moments of humor and absurdity. From the absence of security at the airport, to the army protecting iguanas on the roads, Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side goes beyond the headlines to tell the true story of life at Guantanamo. By bearing witness to the prisoner's stories, Smith also asks what is done to our understanding of American democracy when the rule of law is jettisoned in the name of combating terrorism.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2007

About the author

Clive Stafford Smith OBE is a British, formerly US-based lawyer specializing in civil rights and the death penalty in the United States. He is also the founder and Director of Reprieve, a human rights not-for-profit organization. To date, Clive has helped secure the release of 65 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay (including every British prisoner) and still acts for 15 more. More recently, Clive has turned a strategic eye to the other secret detention sites, including Bagram in Afghanistan and the British island of Diego Garcia. In 2000 he was awarded an OBE for ‘humanitarian services’, and has since received numerous honours and awards. His book BAD MEN: Guantanamo Bay and the Secret Prisons was published by Phoenix in 2008.

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

What do we know about Gitmo and the prisoners that are held there? Well, if you follow the news you will know that this is one of the prisons used to house the very dangerous element of terror prisoners found in foreign countries. No one truly knows many of the facts because the government has kept it classified. Still, there are plenty of folks that would have you believe that the camp is housing hundreds of INNOCENT MEN being deprived rights.

I have found that it is simply impossible to have a logical discussion about such non-sense. People like Clive Smith make it even harder, writing a frightfully anti-American book that makes claims that cannot even be verified, yet runs counter to common sense. When I say anti-American, I do not mean the general subject. Vibrant society and Republican ideals rests on debate and dissent. That is a non-starter. Yet, this book is filled with derogatory claims about Americans and peppered with the worse generalizations about our society that one can write. Mr. Smith wants to hide behind dissent because he lacks the moral courage and decency to honestly discuss his revulsion with this country.

Throughout the book we learn that American’s are prone to insanity if Old Glory is defaced, that GOP voters are some of the dumbest and most inhumane people on the planet and that is before we learn about the types of folks in the Military. All in all, this book is only convincing and informative if one shares the world view of the author, someone that has worked long and hard in capital cases throughout the south. One wonders if the constant toiling with society’s worse has not damaged the author’s moral compass.

This is the second “dissent” book I have read on the war and again like The Dark Side, this book is lacking objectivity and fairness, not that this one claims any such feelings. The author is a lawyer with 40 to 50 clients in Gitmo, further impacting his account.

[Tessa in Mid-Michigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly edited and written. Confusing timelines and details. Some elements chosen were petty, insignificant and unconvincing. No evidence. One good point: Do we punish these more than the Nazis at Nuremberg? Juveniles should not have been there, at all, ever. Horrible torture in Morocco, from prisoners' testimonies--why all these secret prisons?

[Leonora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a superb discussion of torture generally and also gave a fascinating explanation of how many of the Guantanamo inmates were captured in the first place. Whatever your politics, I strongly recommend this.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written account of some of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay as well as good discussion about the ethics of torture. As an American citizen, if half of what the author writes about is true, it is a sad book that details a sad chapter in our history.

[Colleen Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially relevant today, 2/15/10, with the release of "Seven Paragraphs" (NY Times editorial of that title) by the British government, over US objection, about the torture of Binyam Mohammed. All the information is already in the public domain in this book and others.

[Khalid Mahbub · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book epitomizes the cliched idiom "truth is the first casualty of war". Reading this book, one may feel America has lost its long-cherished moral-superiority to dictate the narrative. Over that of the terrorists and rouge-states it is at war with.

[Adam]

it's crazy to think that this shit is real.no justice no peace.