Prisoner at Guantánamo

Left-wing ÖH invites former terrorist (55) to Vienna University

Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the son of a camel herder from Mauritania, was a former Al-Qaeda member and was held for 14 years at the U.S. prison in Guantánamo. This photo shows him shortly after his release in 2016. On June 8, he will speak at the University of Vienna.(Bild: Krone-Collage/APA/HANS PUNZ, AFP)

The left-wing coalition of the Student Union (ÖH) at the University of Vienna is inviting Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a former member of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, to an event. The discussion is expected to focus on human rights at the controversial U.S. prison in Guantánamo. The move has already drawn sharp criticism.

The focus is on Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a former member of the Islamist terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, who was trained at a camp in Afghanistan in the 1990s and took an oath of allegiance.

14 Years as a Prisoner at Guantánamo
In the U.S., he was considered a key figure with ties to Osama bin Laden. The government accused him of being one of the main perpetrators of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He was alleged to have recruited three of the four pilots for Al-Qaeda. From 2002 to 2016, Slahi was a detainee at Guantánamo, but without charges.  During his imprisonment, the now 55-year-old wrote a diary about his experiences, which later became an international bestseller. He described, for example, how he was tortured over the course of many years.

This is also the topic of the event titled “Nearly 25 Years of Guantanamo Bay” on June 8 at the university campus. In addition to Slahi, another former Guantanamo detainee and a former Guantanamo guard have been invited.

ÖH Spokesperson Defends Invitation
According to its own statement, the ÖH wants to facilitate a discussion on human rights and the “War on Terror”: “Engaging with these developments does not mean uncritically adopting all biographical aspects or personal views of individual persons, but rather seriously reflecting on the impact of state measures on human rights and the rule of law,” emphasizes a spokesperson for the student union, which is dominated by the left-wing VSStÖ.

Slahi’s life was also the subject of the film “The Mauritanian,” and he has previously appeared at the University of Graz, the ÖH notes.

Video: Documentary about Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Sharp criticism from AG and FPÖ
Criticism of the appearance, however, was not long in coming. “Anyone who offers a platform to former Al-Qaeda members and sells it as a human rights discourse has lost their political and moral compass,” says Laurin Weninger, chairman of the ÖVP-affiliated Action Group. FPÖ Secretary-General Christian Hafenecker even sees a “security scandal” and announces parliamentary inquiries.

Constant Controversy Surrounding the ÖH
Bizarre: A few years ago, the ÖH protested at the University of Applied Arts against an appearance by German feminist Alice Schwarzer. They claimed her feminist views were outdated, and that Schwarzer held “anti-Muslim” and “transphobic” opinions.

A former Al-Qaeda member, on the other hand, appears to fall within the permissible spectrum of opinion. Most recently, the ÖH at the University of Vienna, Austria’s largest university, also drew attention for failing to distance itself from anti-Semitism, prompting the Green faction GRAS to leave the coalition.

On Wednesday, thousands of students, faculty, and university staff took to the streets in Vienna to protest the planned cuts. This caused significant delays in public transit and car traffic around the Vienna University of Technology on Karlsplatz and the University of Vienna on the Ring.