The Forever Prisoner

The documentary tells the story of Abu Zubaydah. Zubaydah was the first high-value detainee taken into the CIA’s interrogation programme. The programme rested on techniques developed inside the agency. Assessments outside the agency identified those techniques as torture. Zubaydah has never been charged with a crime. Nor has he been allowed to challenge his detention. He is still held at Guantánamo Bay. His situation is one of open-ended waiting. The film says this runs against America’s own principles of justice. The account rests on documents and on testimony. Ali Soufan and James Mitchell are among those who speak. John Rizzo appears in Alex Gibney’s American documentary of 2021 as well, which runs a hundred and twenty minutes.