Editor’s note: This report was originally published at The Political Carnival and written by the blogger GottaLaff, who has been instrumental in exposing the systematic torture and abuse of Fayiz al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti imprisoned at Guantanamo for more than seven years on trumped up charges. The Public Record is reprinting this story in an effort to raise awareness about al-Kandari’s plight. On Sunday, The Public Record published a column written by al-Kandari’s military attorney, Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, which you can read here.

For weeks now, I have been telling the story, chapter by chapter, of one Guantanamo Bay detainee, Fayiz al-Kandari. I’d never heard of him before, had you? No. Nobody has for nearly eight years now.

Before I go on, do me one small favor, if you would. Clear your head of all other thoughts and imagine someone you love. Think about them for a moment. Feel the affection you have for that person, the memories you share, the tears and the laughter.

Now imagine this: That person you adore…

• Had wood screws pierce his skull during a 24-hour plane ride to Cuba where he’d be imprisoned
• Having his ribs broken
• Choking on blood from a head laceration after having been brutally beaten and tortured
• Being exposed to extreme cold temperatures and doused with ice cold water
• Being subjected to painfully loud music
• Suffering from severe sleep deprivation night after night until he had no idea what day it was, or if he was even sane any more
• Being left for days chin-deep in sewage and blood-infested icy water
• Having death threats whispered into his ear
• Being stripped naked and humiliated in front of men and women who taunted him

Imagine the fear, the pain, the cries, the shivers, the tears, the panic on your loved one’s face after being sytematically tortured. Now replace your loved one’s face with that of Fayiz al-Kandari. Does that make it easier? Or excusable?

Fayiz experienced much of what I described above. Fayiz’s crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing charity work required of him by his religion. Fayiz, who comes from a wealthy family, from a country allied with ours, was sold to our forces for bounty.

He was then shipped from prison to prison, finally spending more than years locked up and tortured at Gitmo. Lawyers refer to that as “abuse” or “mistreatment.” I call it torture.

Torture is illegal and it’s a war crime. But the law was convoluted, twisted, maimed, and mangled in order to justify its use, by a handful of people with a lot of unchecked power who panicked after 9/11.

Not all of the torture is the kind I’ve described. Some has been psychological, including the unintended consequence of an interminable waiting game.

So now, imagine one last thing for me. Imagine your child, your cousin, your father, your brother sitting in a cell for nearly 8 years… waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

But a court date never comes. Just ask Fayiz’s lawyer, Lt. Col. Barry Wingard. Imagine your son’s hopes shooting up to the sky when a new president is elected, only to go through emotional whiplash, because the U.S. government is busy trying to figure out what to do with him.

With your son.

Four more months go by. Then six.

Thank you, you’ve done enough imagining. Now you can read for yourself what it has been like for someone else’s son. He has feelings. He’s been “abused” and “mistreated”. Tortured. He had hopes that have long since been obliterated.

He also has a name. It’s Fayiz:

My Convo with a Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: “I’ve given up on American media.” (Cross posted at Daily Kos here, and at Crooks and Liars here): This sums up Fayiz’s story and explains his lawyer’s disillusionment with the American press. They virtually ignored him.

Part 2– Gitmo Detainee: “Obama has perhaps broken the spirit of the detainees in a way the former administration could never”: The optimistic surge felt by Fayiz upon hearing about President Obama’s election? It didn’t last. He describes it as false hope.

Part 3–Gitmo Detainee Lawyer: “I guess the days of attorney/client privilege are over in GITMO: For the first time since George Bush left and Barack Obama took office, the letters (via snail mail) between Fayiz and Barry were opened and resealed before they left Gitmo.

VIDEO: Detainee lawyer on MSNBC with David Shuster: See what a truly meaningful story and a few tweets on Twitter to a real mensch can accomplish?

Part 4– A Gitmo Detainee’s story: The Hell Chronicles: A journal of sorts, including details of Fayiz’s “mistreatment”.

Part 5: A Gitmo Detainee Lawyer’s Plea: Lt. Col. Barry Wingard introduces Fayiz to us, and asks for help in telling his client’s story, .

Part 6: Gitmo Detainee Fayiz al-Kandari speaks… from his cell: Touching, and often humorous, observations from the prisoner, in his own words.

Part 7- Lawyer Visits Gitmo Detainee: “Barry, have you brought me justice today?“: Lt. Col. Wingard recounts a typical visit with his client over a three day period.

How innocent Gitmo detainee Fayiz al-Kandari got detained… and detained, and detained…: From the comfort and warmth of a wealthy Kuwaiti family to years of brutal isolation and a world of hurt at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Lt. Col. Wingard tracks Fayiz’s introduction to broken justice.

AUDIO: Gitmo Detainee Lawyer Lt. Col. Barry Wingard interviewed: On Common Sense Radio with Jim Alger.

CagePrisoners: An interview with Lt. Col. Wingard at a site that is designed to educate the public, run by a human rights organization that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the so-called War on Terrorism.

Guantanamo suicide exposes detainees’ despair under Obama: “Most of the detainees, however, despite Obama’s overtures on closing the facility, remain depressed and desperate”… Fayiz is included in this piece.

The Washington Post “No Justice Today”: An op-ed by Lt. Col. Barry Wingard. It’s a first-hand look at what he and his client have been through.

Eight Years Later, Still Waiting for Justice: An op-ed by Lt. Col. Barry Wingard saying he used to think all the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay must be terrorists, but not anymore.

Rehabilitation: One Possible Solution for Some Gitmo Detainees: Lt. Col. Barry Wingard’s most recent op-ed piece, a clear, concise recap of how the justice system for detainees works [sic], and a brand new solution that could actually work to everyone’s benefit.

Fayiz’s Wikipedia page.

Project Kuwaiti Freedom: A site well worth visiting, dedicated to Kuwaiti prisoners at Gitmo, including Fayiz.

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you’d like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer’s book The Dark Side. You’ll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I’m all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz’s story here, at Answers.com.