17 Muslims are being held captive because of a wristwatch. In some cases, it wasn't even the correct watch.

You did read that correctly. Their continued detention was justified solely on the basis that they wore a classic Casio watch, which has also been used by terrorists. Incidentally, the intelligence officers put two and two together after the fact. As for the unlucky guys, who are still in Guantanamo... well, most of them were sold to U.S. forces at a time when we were offering large bounties for Arabs.

Truth is scarier than fiction.

Gradually the stories are coming forth from ex-inmates who struggle to clear their names. The message to the world is unmistakable: some of them are innocent, but we didn't bother to get our facts straight. And so we have people like Khaled Al-Masri and Maher Arar, who claim they were "tortured by mistake".

But what about the people who are still behind bars? How can their voices be heard?

Every week or so, I send off a handful of letters to random young men whose surnames begin with the letter "A". I hope to get to the B's soon, but my quest has been slowed by the tears I shed at the stories I've uncovered in my attempt to put a human face to these names I'm writing to. Each of these guys has a story that needs to be heard by the world. They're not just stories of torture. They're stories of idiocy, lunacy, and ordinary human laziness in a lawless state where justice isn't worth a cup or cold water or a bedsheet. The Wristwatch Detainees are just a few of hundreds of victims of human nature at Guantanamo Bay.

As long as habeas corpus is suspended, the hands of Lady Justice are tied. Go to www.mercyinitiative.com to get involved. And please, send me a message if you want to help--together we can stop torture and indefinite detention. We must stand up before there's no one left to stand for us. (less info)