James "Yusuf" Yee, a former U.S. Army Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay Detainment Camp in Cuba, said he hopes that after hearing his story, people are inspired to protect civil rights in the United States.
Yee, a third-generation Asian-American and Muslim convert, said he was wrongly accused of espionage and kept in solitary confinement for 76 days. He spoke to approximately 100 Ball State University students, faculty and Muncie community members at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Teachers College Room 102.
Yee said he hopes his audience will work to "redirect the country."
"Bring [the country] back to one that is really going to preserve the precious freedoms that we enjoy today and not allow our government to trample over them under the guise of national security," he said.
In his speech, Yee said he heard Guantanamo Bay detainees' stories of cruel treatment. The detainees were tortured in manners that were sacrilegious for Muslims, he said.
Yee said guards forced detainees to pray on pentagrams and accept Satan as their god.
Muslim Student Association, said Yee's visit was sponsored by the Muslim Student Association, the Asian-American Student Association, the Ball State Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Islamic Center of Muncie.
"I think at an academic institution it's always good to hear different views and different points of perspective, especially the war going on right now in Iraq," Saijad said.
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