LGC Newsletter – December 2010
NEWS:
British Residents:
Reprieve and Leigh Day solicitors have asked the High Court in London to review the British government’s failure to release crucial information to Ahmed Belbacha’s legal team in the US, which is currently trying to prevent the US government from deporting him forcibly to Algeria. In his native Algeria, Mr. Belbacha faces a 20-year prison sentence passed in his absence on the basis of flimsy evidence and the threat of torture. Another Algerian prisoner was forced to return to Algeria against his will earlier this year; he promptly “disappeared” for several days and now faces charges related to terrorism. This move could force the British government to take action which could save his life; Reprieve believes that the British government has “repeatedly declined to co-operate or to admit their part in Ahmed’s abuse and near-decade-long imprisonment.” Facing the imminent threat of a forced return to Algeria, Ahmed Belbacha has long expressed his desire not to be returned to that country, which he had fled in fear of his life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/15/ahmed-belbacha-guantanamo-bay
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC) and other organisations, including the LGC, held a successful day of action in Battersea on Saturday 11 December to raise awareness about Shaker Aamer’s case and demand his release. Shaker Aamer has been held without charge or trial illegally for over 9 years. Deemed innocent by the British government, his release was demanded by Gordon Brown in 2007 along with four other prisoners who have all returned to the UK. Recently, both the Foreign Secretary William Hague and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have raised his case with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, yet Shaker Aamer appears to be no closer to release. The day of action kicked off at midday with a symbolic demonstration and march from the site of the new American Embassy in Vauxhall, attended by around 70 people, to the Battersea Arts Centre for a public meeting, attended by over 100 people, and addressed by local MP Jane Ellison, Shaker Aamer’s UK lawyer Gareth Peirce, Moazzam Begg, journalist Yvonne Ridley and several others. In the evening, there was a film screening of Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo, which focuses on Shaker Aamer’s story, followed by a discussion with Andy Worthington and Omar Deghayes at the same venue.
http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2010/12/day-for-shaker-aamer-11-december-2010.html
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155069.html
http://news.scotsman.com/uk/Day-of-action-to-highlight.6657904.jp
http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/wandsworthnews/8735080.Protesters_demand_release_of_last_British_Guantanamo_detainee/
Guantánamo Bay:
Following the only civilian trial held so far in the US for a Guantánamo prisoner last month, in which Tanzanian national Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was convicted of one of 285 charges, the US Congress passed a law to prevent any other prisoners being transferred or tried on the US mainland. Although Ghailani, to be sentenced in late January, faces a life sentence, many in Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, would like to see prisoners, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohamed (KSM) face military trials at Guantánamo Bay rather than civilian trials, fearing that these are more likely to lead to an acquittal. However, as the Ghailani trial showed, they are also fairer and abide by recognised principles of law, such as the rejection of evidence obtained through the use of torture. This move was criticised by the US Attorney General Eric Holder, who had announced civilian trials for prisoners such as KSM in 2009. The transfer ban will apply until at least 30 September 2011. This bill, covering other military defence spending issues, including the war in Afghanistan, was passed by both houses in the US Congress on 22 December and also sets new conditions for the release of prisoners.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/guantanamo-bay-criminal-courts-barack-obama
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/us/politics/23gitmo.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
At the same time, the White House issued a draft executive order, yet to become law, which would allow the indefinite detention without trial of some prisoners held there. There are currently 174 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, of whom 48 would be affected by this order, whom it would be difficult to try before a civilian or military court largely due to the nature of the evidence against them and as they are deemed to be “too dangerous”. This would also involve a change in the prisoner status review system, giving prisoners greater rights to challenge their detention and more often.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122105523.html
Both of these measures are a major setback to plans to close Guantánamo Bay and in effect propose keeping the prison open for much longer to house the 48 prisoners for whom the US government is proposing “prolonged indefinite detention” and military trials for others. Almost a year since the deadline of President Obama’s broken promise to close Guantánamo Bay and nine years since the arbitrary detention and torture camp opened, it is still no nearer to closing and justice still fails to feature as a possible remedy for those held there. The White House has conceded that Guantánamo Bay is far from closing any time soon.
Instead, in order to defend the indefensible, in early December, the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) issued a report stating that out of the 598 prisoners released by the US government, over 25% were now suspected or confirmed to have returned to committing crimes against the US. This is several times more than Pentagon reports two years ago. According to the report, more than 90 former prisoners were confirmed to have returned to armed combat against the US. The report does not provide the names of any prisoners as such and since more than 99% of these prisoners were released without trial or conviction, there cannot be any conclusive evidence that they are recidivists and have “returned” to a life of crime against the US.
More evidence has emerged this month on the issue of illegal drugs being used on prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay and experimentation on prisoners. Doctors who administered a controversial antimalarial drug, known as mefloquine, to prisoners, known to have serious neuropsychological side effects such as suicidal thoughts, seizures, depression and hallucinations, were told to keep quiet about its use, even though there was no medical reason for the drug to be given to prisoners. Albert J. Shimkus, a former commanding officer and chief surgeon at Guantánamo Bay, defended the use of high doses of the drug on prisoners in 2002-2003. There have been concerns and reports about the use of illegal and psychotropic drugs on prisoners and possible experimentation on prisoners in the past. The collusion of medical professionals in torture and abuse at Guantánamo Bay is documented, however due to the classification of medical records and silence over the treatment of prisoners, much vital information has yet to emerge.
Yemenis make up the largest single nationality at Guantánamo Bay with over 90 prisoners. The return of Yemeni prisoners who are cleared for release to their country has been blocked for over a year now on the ground that Yemen poses a security threat. Most have had little communication with their families over the past nine years, through letters and more recently telephone calls. However, since mid-December, the Red Cross in the US and Yemen have started facilitating video conferencing for prisoners and their families so that they can talk to each other for at least one hour at a time. Several prisoners and their families have since tried this facility.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/12/28/guantanamo.yemen.video/
Extraordinary rendition:
A series of cases brought before the High Court in London seeking a fresh inquiry into alleged torture and abuse of Iraqi citizens by British soldiers in Iraq between 2003 and 2008 have been rejected. High Court judges upheld the Defence Secretary’s refusal to hold a wide-ranging inquiry into whether there was systemic abuse of Iraqis during this period by British troops. The judicial review brought on behalf of over 200 people was rejected as other inquiries are currently ongoing, however the judges did not rule out that such an inquiry may be necessary in the future, given the seriousness of the allegations.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/iraqis-lose-bid-for-torture-claims-inquiry-2165829.html
LGC Activities:
The LGC is saddened to report the death of Salim Akbar, a member of the steering committee of the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC). A board member of the Islamic Cultural and Education Centre in Battersea and a local community activist, Mr. Akbar was involved in various human campaigns, including that to seek the release of Shaker Aamer, a personal friend of his. Salim Akbar, aged in his mid-thirties, died of a heart attack on 17 December. He had played a key role in organising the Day for Shaker Aamer on 11 December and had hugely facilitated and contributed to an event held by the LGC at the Battersea Mosque for Shaker Aamer in Ramadan (August) in 2009 as well as many other demonstrations and events organised by the SSAC and others to raise awareness about Mr. Aamer’s case. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.
Two people attended the December monthly Shut Down Guantánamo! There is no demonstration in January.
The London Guantánamo Campaign invites you to join us for our action to mark the ninth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay on Tuesday 11 January 2011, Beyond Words: Silent Witness to Injustice. We will be holding a silent lunchtime vigil in Trafalgar Square, opposite the National Gallery. We would like to have 14 participants hold up a letter of the alphabet to spell out: S-H-U-T G-U-A-N-T-A-N-A-M-O. If you are attending and would like to volunteer to hold up a letter of the alphabet, please let us know.
The flyer is attached and the event is also up on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=156090414425731&index=1
If you are not in London and/or organising an anniversary event elsewhere, please let us know and we will be happy to help you publicise it. If you are unable to attend, please consider contacting your MP and asking them to sign EDM 1093 (and invite them to the 11 January vigil). The EDM is at:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42093&SESSION=905
An EDM is a motion signed by MPs in support; if enough MPs sign, a debate can be held in Parliament on the issue. Although this does not happen often, it is a good way of finding out how MPs feel about an issue and when asking your MP to sign, a good way for constituents to make them aware of the issue. It has been signed by 17 MPs so far.
Thank you for your support in 2010. Please join us in 2011 to up the pressure on politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to press for the closure of Guantánamo Bay sooner rather than later and the speedy return of prisoners like Shaker Aamer to their families. Let us not be looking forward to a decade of Guantánamo Bay this time next year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A Day for Shaker Aamer, 11 December 2010, Battersea
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC), along with numerous other human rights organisations, including the London Guantánamo Campaign, trade unions, political parties and social movements organised a day of action, involving a rally, march, public meeting and film showing to put pressure on the British government to press for the release and return of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantánamo Bay, to this country. Shaker Aamer, a 42-year-old Saudi national, with a British wife and four British children, has been held illegally, without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay for almost nine years. The British government does not consider him a threat and sought his return to the UK in August 2007. Four other men, whose return was also sought at that time, have long since returned. Following the out-of-court settlement made with former prisoners last month in a case concerning the UK’s involvement in their torture, the British government announced it would be stepping up its efforts to seek his release. Since then, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have spoken to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about his case. Unfortunately, Mr. Aamer is still held at Guantánamo Bay and since the election of a Republican Congress in the US, efforts are being made by American politicians to block the release of any more prisoners.
Campaigners from London and other parts of the UK took part in the day of action on Saturday 11 December, which kicked off at the site of the new American Embassy in Nine Elms in Vauxhall, south London. About 70 people took part in a rally at midday overlooking the River Thames which was addressed by former Labour MP for Battersea Martin Linton, who had campaigned for Mr. Aamer’s release while his MP, Chris Nineham from the Stop The War Coalition, Sheikh Suliman Gani from Tooting Mosque and Joy Hurcombe from Brighton Against Guantánamo, reading a message of support from Jeremy Corbyn MP. The rally then set off on an hour and a half long noisy procession from Vauxhall to the Battersea Arts Centre for a public meeting in the afternoon attended by around 100 people. Speakers at the meeting included current Battersea MP, Jane Ellison, who since being elected in May has also worked hard and pressed her government and others in parliament to take action for the release of Shaker Aamer, his solicitor Gareth Peirce, journalist Yvonne Ridley, Sheikh Suliman Gani, Lindsey German from the Stop The War Coalition, Moazzam Begg and others.
In the evening, there was a film showing of Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo, which focuses on Shaker Aamer’s story, followed by a discussion with Andy Worthington and Omar Deghayes.
Almost NINE years since it opened, Guantánamo Bay is still open for business. A vote in the US Congress last week has set back attempts to have those facing prosecution sent to the US mainland to face trial in civilian courts rather than the military-style kangaroo courts used at Guantánamo Bay. A report in Congress has also claimed that many prisoners who have been released – only two prisoners who have been sentenced have since been released – overwhelmingly return to terrorism-related crime, even though it has never been established – even through their torture and arbitrary detention for years at Guantánamo Bay, Bagram and elsewhere – that they had committed any identifiable crime in the first place. This has been a popular ruse by the American administrations of both Bush and Obama with each new “birthday” notched up by Guantánamo. However, the Americans are not alone in being responsible for the fact that Guantánamo Bay and its extralegal regime are still in operation. Much of the rest of the world has failed to do anything to help close Guantánamo Bay either.
In Shaker Aamer’s case, the British government MUST take further action and ensure he returns to his family in London. Write to your MP [find them at http://www.theyworkforyou.com/] and demand they express your concerns to the Foreign Office, write to the Foreign Office yourself private.office@fco.gov.uk and ask for action to be stepped up for Shaker Aamer’s release, ask your MP to sign EDM 1093 http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42093&SESSION=905 tabled by Caroline Lucas MP, calls for Shaker Aamer’s return to the UK and outlines all the demands the LGC is making of the current government.
More importantly, make a stand against Guantánamo Bay, torture and arbitrary detention by joining the London Guantánamo Campaign on Tuesday 11 January at lunchtime in Trafalgar Square London for a silent protest vigil to mark nine years of torture and abuse of human rights and due process at Guantánamo Bay: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2010/12/beyond-words-silent-witness-to.html
Campaigners from London and other parts of the UK took part in the day of action on Saturday 11 December, which kicked off at the site of the new American Embassy in Nine Elms in Vauxhall, south London. About 70 people took part in a rally at midday overlooking the River Thames which was addressed by former Labour MP for Battersea Martin Linton, who had campaigned for Mr. Aamer’s release while his MP, Chris Nineham from the Stop The War Coalition, Sheikh Suliman Gani from Tooting Mosque and Joy Hurcombe from Brighton Against Guantánamo, reading a message of support from Jeremy Corbyn MP. The rally then set off on an hour and a half long noisy procession from Vauxhall to the Battersea Arts Centre for a public meeting in the afternoon attended by around 100 people. Speakers at the meeting included current Battersea MP, Jane Ellison, who since being elected in May has also worked hard and pressed her government and others in parliament to take action for the release of Shaker Aamer, his solicitor Gareth Peirce, journalist Yvonne Ridley, Sheikh Suliman Gani, Lindsey German from the Stop The War Coalition, Moazzam Begg and others.
In the evening, there was a film showing of Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo, which focuses on Shaker Aamer’s story, followed by a discussion with Andy Worthington and Omar Deghayes.
Almost NINE years since it opened, Guantánamo Bay is still open for business. A vote in the US Congress last week has set back attempts to have those facing prosecution sent to the US mainland to face trial in civilian courts rather than the military-style kangaroo courts used at Guantánamo Bay. A report in Congress has also claimed that many prisoners who have been released – only two prisoners who have been sentenced have since been released – overwhelmingly return to terrorism-related crime, even though it has never been established – even through their torture and arbitrary detention for years at Guantánamo Bay, Bagram and elsewhere – that they had committed any identifiable crime in the first place. This has been a popular ruse by the American administrations of both Bush and Obama with each new “birthday” notched up by Guantánamo. However, the Americans are not alone in being responsible for the fact that Guantánamo Bay and its extralegal regime are still in operation. Much of the rest of the world has failed to do anything to help close Guantánamo Bay either.
In Shaker Aamer’s case, the British government MUST take further action and ensure he returns to his family in London. Write to your MP [find them at http://www.theyworkforyou.com/] and demand they express your concerns to the Foreign Office, write to the Foreign Office yourself private.office@fco.gov.uk and ask for action to be stepped up for Shaker Aamer’s release, ask your MP to sign EDM 1093 http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42093&SESSION=905 tabled by Caroline Lucas MP, calls for Shaker Aamer’s return to the UK and outlines all the demands the LGC is making of the current government.
More importantly, make a stand against Guantánamo Bay, torture and arbitrary detention by joining the London Guantánamo Campaign on Tuesday 11 January at lunchtime in Trafalgar Square London for a silent protest vigil to mark nine years of torture and abuse of human rights and due process at Guantánamo Bay: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2010/12/beyond-words-silent-witness-to.html
Sunday, December 05, 2010
LGC Newsletter – November 2010
NEWS:
British Residents:
On 16 November, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced in the House of Commons that the British government had reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with half a dozen former Guantánamo prisoners and had added a further half dozen to the recipients of an undisclosed compensation settlement. Dubbed “hush money” by the tabloid press and the end of the court case brought by former prisoners to force the government to disclose what it knew about their torture and arbitrary detention in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, it also means that uncertainty will prevail as to what the British government knew and did and leaves many questions open to those who doubt the integrity of prisoners held without trial, and without charges in some cases, for many years. In making his statement, Mr. Clarke stated “No admissions of culpability have been made in settling those cases and nor have any of the claimants withdrawn their allegations. This is a mediated settlement.” This means that the cases can be reopened at some later date. While the government said that no admission of guilt had been made in its case, it is quite clear that if there was no guilt no compensation settlement would have been made. As a result, most of the evidence of involvement in international wrongdoing by the British government which the case sought to have made public will remain secret. The case, brought at the High Court in May last year, never moved past the procedural stage, with much legal wrangling as to what the government was prepared to make public and how; the government demanded that large parts of the hearing be held in secret without the men bringing the case or their lawyers knowing the evidence being discussed or presented, effectively making it impossible for them to challenge it. This was allegedly on national security grounds. It has always been clear that the government was prepared to fight attempts to disclose the evidence in this case and that the case would be a drawn out affair without necessarily achieving its desired aims. One of the former prisoners bringing the case, Moazzam Begg, wrote in the Independent about why they chose to make the settlement:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/moazzam-begg-we-settled-so-we-could-get-our-lives-back-2139647.html
The government hopes that the Gibson Inquiry, to which this case provided a major hurdle, would settle some of the questions raised by it. The Gibson Inquiry itself has been much criticised already and the actual terms of how it will operate have yet to be clarified. Unfortunately, in his announcement, Mr. Clarke continued to refer to the “mistreatment” of prisoners abroad, which the Gibson Inquiry is to look into. “Mistreatment” is not a legal term and the allegations are of human rights abuses, some of which, like torture, constitute crimes against humanity. Furthermore, the current government, which is wholly responsible, has given no reassurances whatsoever that its agents are not currently involved in similar practices abroad. At least one further allegation of British intelligence services being complicit in the abuse of a British national abroad has emerged since the May election.
In this statement, Mr. Clarke also referred to government plans, already mentioned by the Prime Minister, to publish a green paper next summer on the use of intelligence in judicial proceedings. The paper would “examine mechanisms for the protection and disclosure of sensitive information in the full range of civil proceedings, inquests and inquiries” and “will also consider complementary options to modernise and reform existing standing intelligence oversight mechanisms”. This proposal seeks to prevent litigation of the type mentioned above and cases similar to the Binyam Mohamed case, with the main aim being to protect Britain’s diplomatic relations with other countries.
Several other court cases are still ongoing before the Gibson Inquiry can start. In one of them, the criminal case concerning misconduct by the security services in Binyam Mohamed’s case, the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmar QC, has advised the Metropolitan police not to prosecute an MI5 agent known as Witness B, who was singled out, due to insufficient evidence to prosecute him. However, a wider criminal investigation is continuing into the allegations made in this case, although that may not lead to any prosecution. Commenting on this decision, Andrew Tyrie MP, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition said, “Any information that would have been available in the court cases and criminal investigations must be available to the inquiry”.
Another major obstacle to the government drawing a line under its involvement in Guantanamo Bay is that almost a decade later, British resident Shaker Aamer remains there. It emerged shortly after the announcement of the settlement that the former prisoners had offered to forego compensation if Mr. Aamer’s release could be secured. His release was also a major discussion point of the settlement. Since then, both the Foreign Secretary William Hague and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have spoken to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about his release. Amnesty International has also started a campaign for Shaker Aamer’s release and the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC) is holding a day-long event on 11 December to raise awareness about his case. Now is the ideal time for the British government to take action after having dragged its heels over Mr. Aamer’s release in the three and a half years since Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote to the US seeking his release along with four other prisoners who have all since long returned to the UK.
Guantánamo Bay:
In a first test for the Obama administration on how it would fare in putting prisoners on trial before civilian courts, the jury in the trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian former prisoner and victim of extraordinary rendition, found him guilty of only one charge, of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives, out of 285 charges, including murder and conspiracy to murder. He now faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. He was accused of involvement in the 1998 bombing of US Embassies in East Africa. Charged in 2001, he was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2004, after which he “disappeared” until he was sent to Guantánamo Bay in 2006. He will be sentenced on 25 January 2011. Considered a good day for justice, the verdict was not favourable to the US administration which was also planning to try others facing charges before civilian courts. It may now reconsider and change its plans. Some Republicans have called for future trials to be scrapped.
Extraordinary rendition:
Former American president George W. Bush, currently on a book tour promoting his memoirs Decision Points, outed himself a war criminal by confessing to having authorised the use of waterboarding on at least three prisoners. He further claimed that the use of waterboarding helped to save lives by foiling attacks at Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf; these claims have been denied by British officials. He has since failed to elaborate on how his vague claims managed to prevent these and other attacks elsewhere and how this was the only “viable” means of obtaining this information. The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has warned George Bush not to bring his book tour to European capitals stating that, as a result, “he might never see Texas again” after being prosecuted for war crimes. Commenting on the nature of George Bush’s admissions, Mr. Johnson said, “It is hard to overstate the enormity of this admission”. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/borisjohnson/8133411/George-W.-Bush-cant-fight-for-freedom-and-authorise-torture.html
The US Department of Justice has decided that there will be no prosecutions over the destruction of tapes in 2005 showing the torture faced by prisoners at a US black site in Thailand. 92 tapes in total were destroyed showing the “enhanced interrogation techniques” used to extract confessions from Abdul Rahman Al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah, both still held at Guantánamo Bay but who no longer face any charges. No reasons were given for why the prosecution was dropped, which would reveal whether soldiers acted of their own will or were following orders from above, or why the tapes were destroyed, although there is speculation that this was to avoid any further embarrassment for the US following the disclosure of photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Amnesty International has published a report on the role played by European states in extraordinary rendition through secret prisons and facilitating torture flights, outlining the measures that have and should be taken to investigate and prosecute those involved.
http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR01/023/2010/en
An appeal hearing was held at the High Court in London in a case dubbed by MP David Davis as a clear “case of passive rendition” involving Rangzieb Ahmed who was jailed for life in 2008 for directing acts of terrorism. He was ordered to serve at least ten years. However, following a statement in Parliament last year by David Davis in which, using parliamentary privilege, he disclosed the nature of the allegations of torture Mr. Ahmed made about when he was interrogated in Pakistan, he was allowed to appeal his conviction. He claims the UK government was involved and much of his 2008 trial was held in secret due to the sensitivity of the intelligence evidence and how it was obtained.
LGC Activities:
The November monthly Shut Down Guantánamo! on Friday 5 November was attended by 4 people. There will be no demonstration in January as it precedes the ninth anniversary action by a few days. We invite you to join us for that instead.
The London Guantánamo Campaign launched an Early Day Motion (EDM) with MP Caroline Lucas this month on the closure of Guantánamo Bay, largely laying down what the British government should be doing now to help close Guantánamo Bay. An EDM is a motion signed by MPs in support; if enough MPs sign, a debate can be held in Parliament on the issue. Although this does not happen often, it is a good way of finding out how MPs feel about an issue and when asking your MP to sign, a good way for constituents to make them aware of the issue. Please ask your MP to sign the EDM and to join the London Guantánamo Campaign on Tuesday 11 January 2011 in Trafalgar Square to mark the ninth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay [flyer attached – please circulate].
The EDM is at:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42093&SESSION=905 It has been signed by 10 MPs so far.
Following the verdict in the Ghailani case, the LGC had a letter published in The Guardian newspaper making largely the same demands: that the British must act and act now to help close Guantánamo Bay: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/22/ghailani-warning-to-uk
The London Guantánamo Campaign invites you to join us for our action to mark the ninth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay on Tuesday 11 January 2011, Beyond Words: Silent Witness to Injustice. We will be holding a silent lunchtime vigil in Trafalgar Square, opposite the National Gallery. We would like to have 14 participants hold up a letter of the alphabet to spell out: S-H-U-T G-U-A-N-T-A-N-A-M-O. If you are attending and would like to volunteer to hold up a letter of the alphabet, please let us know.
The flyer is attached and the event is also up on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=156090414425731&index=1
Please join us and let others know about this event.
British Residents:
On 16 November, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced in the House of Commons that the British government had reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with half a dozen former Guantánamo prisoners and had added a further half dozen to the recipients of an undisclosed compensation settlement. Dubbed “hush money” by the tabloid press and the end of the court case brought by former prisoners to force the government to disclose what it knew about their torture and arbitrary detention in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, it also means that uncertainty will prevail as to what the British government knew and did and leaves many questions open to those who doubt the integrity of prisoners held without trial, and without charges in some cases, for many years. In making his statement, Mr. Clarke stated “No admissions of culpability have been made in settling those cases and nor have any of the claimants withdrawn their allegations. This is a mediated settlement.” This means that the cases can be reopened at some later date. While the government said that no admission of guilt had been made in its case, it is quite clear that if there was no guilt no compensation settlement would have been made. As a result, most of the evidence of involvement in international wrongdoing by the British government which the case sought to have made public will remain secret. The case, brought at the High Court in May last year, never moved past the procedural stage, with much legal wrangling as to what the government was prepared to make public and how; the government demanded that large parts of the hearing be held in secret without the men bringing the case or their lawyers knowing the evidence being discussed or presented, effectively making it impossible for them to challenge it. This was allegedly on national security grounds. It has always been clear that the government was prepared to fight attempts to disclose the evidence in this case and that the case would be a drawn out affair without necessarily achieving its desired aims. One of the former prisoners bringing the case, Moazzam Begg, wrote in the Independent about why they chose to make the settlement:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/moazzam-begg-we-settled-so-we-could-get-our-lives-back-2139647.html
The government hopes that the Gibson Inquiry, to which this case provided a major hurdle, would settle some of the questions raised by it. The Gibson Inquiry itself has been much criticised already and the actual terms of how it will operate have yet to be clarified. Unfortunately, in his announcement, Mr. Clarke continued to refer to the “mistreatment” of prisoners abroad, which the Gibson Inquiry is to look into. “Mistreatment” is not a legal term and the allegations are of human rights abuses, some of which, like torture, constitute crimes against humanity. Furthermore, the current government, which is wholly responsible, has given no reassurances whatsoever that its agents are not currently involved in similar practices abroad. At least one further allegation of British intelligence services being complicit in the abuse of a British national abroad has emerged since the May election.
In this statement, Mr. Clarke also referred to government plans, already mentioned by the Prime Minister, to publish a green paper next summer on the use of intelligence in judicial proceedings. The paper would “examine mechanisms for the protection and disclosure of sensitive information in the full range of civil proceedings, inquests and inquiries” and “will also consider complementary options to modernise and reform existing standing intelligence oversight mechanisms”. This proposal seeks to prevent litigation of the type mentioned above and cases similar to the Binyam Mohamed case, with the main aim being to protect Britain’s diplomatic relations with other countries.
Several other court cases are still ongoing before the Gibson Inquiry can start. In one of them, the criminal case concerning misconduct by the security services in Binyam Mohamed’s case, the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmar QC, has advised the Metropolitan police not to prosecute an MI5 agent known as Witness B, who was singled out, due to insufficient evidence to prosecute him. However, a wider criminal investigation is continuing into the allegations made in this case, although that may not lead to any prosecution. Commenting on this decision, Andrew Tyrie MP, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition said, “Any information that would have been available in the court cases and criminal investigations must be available to the inquiry”.
Another major obstacle to the government drawing a line under its involvement in Guantanamo Bay is that almost a decade later, British resident Shaker Aamer remains there. It emerged shortly after the announcement of the settlement that the former prisoners had offered to forego compensation if Mr. Aamer’s release could be secured. His release was also a major discussion point of the settlement. Since then, both the Foreign Secretary William Hague and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have spoken to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about his release. Amnesty International has also started a campaign for Shaker Aamer’s release and the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC) is holding a day-long event on 11 December to raise awareness about his case. Now is the ideal time for the British government to take action after having dragged its heels over Mr. Aamer’s release in the three and a half years since Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote to the US seeking his release along with four other prisoners who have all since long returned to the UK.
Guantánamo Bay:
In a first test for the Obama administration on how it would fare in putting prisoners on trial before civilian courts, the jury in the trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian former prisoner and victim of extraordinary rendition, found him guilty of only one charge, of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives, out of 285 charges, including murder and conspiracy to murder. He now faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. He was accused of involvement in the 1998 bombing of US Embassies in East Africa. Charged in 2001, he was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2004, after which he “disappeared” until he was sent to Guantánamo Bay in 2006. He will be sentenced on 25 January 2011. Considered a good day for justice, the verdict was not favourable to the US administration which was also planning to try others facing charges before civilian courts. It may now reconsider and change its plans. Some Republicans have called for future trials to be scrapped.
Extraordinary rendition:
Former American president George W. Bush, currently on a book tour promoting his memoirs Decision Points, outed himself a war criminal by confessing to having authorised the use of waterboarding on at least three prisoners. He further claimed that the use of waterboarding helped to save lives by foiling attacks at Heathrow Airport and Canary Wharf; these claims have been denied by British officials. He has since failed to elaborate on how his vague claims managed to prevent these and other attacks elsewhere and how this was the only “viable” means of obtaining this information. The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has warned George Bush not to bring his book tour to European capitals stating that, as a result, “he might never see Texas again” after being prosecuted for war crimes. Commenting on the nature of George Bush’s admissions, Mr. Johnson said, “It is hard to overstate the enormity of this admission”. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/borisjohnson/8133411/George-W.-Bush-cant-fight-for-freedom-and-authorise-torture.html
The US Department of Justice has decided that there will be no prosecutions over the destruction of tapes in 2005 showing the torture faced by prisoners at a US black site in Thailand. 92 tapes in total were destroyed showing the “enhanced interrogation techniques” used to extract confessions from Abdul Rahman Al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah, both still held at Guantánamo Bay but who no longer face any charges. No reasons were given for why the prosecution was dropped, which would reveal whether soldiers acted of their own will or were following orders from above, or why the tapes were destroyed, although there is speculation that this was to avoid any further embarrassment for the US following the disclosure of photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.
Amnesty International has published a report on the role played by European states in extraordinary rendition through secret prisons and facilitating torture flights, outlining the measures that have and should be taken to investigate and prosecute those involved.
http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR01/023/2010/en
An appeal hearing was held at the High Court in London in a case dubbed by MP David Davis as a clear “case of passive rendition” involving Rangzieb Ahmed who was jailed for life in 2008 for directing acts of terrorism. He was ordered to serve at least ten years. However, following a statement in Parliament last year by David Davis in which, using parliamentary privilege, he disclosed the nature of the allegations of torture Mr. Ahmed made about when he was interrogated in Pakistan, he was allowed to appeal his conviction. He claims the UK government was involved and much of his 2008 trial was held in secret due to the sensitivity of the intelligence evidence and how it was obtained.
LGC Activities:
The November monthly Shut Down Guantánamo! on Friday 5 November was attended by 4 people. There will be no demonstration in January as it precedes the ninth anniversary action by a few days. We invite you to join us for that instead.
The London Guantánamo Campaign launched an Early Day Motion (EDM) with MP Caroline Lucas this month on the closure of Guantánamo Bay, largely laying down what the British government should be doing now to help close Guantánamo Bay. An EDM is a motion signed by MPs in support; if enough MPs sign, a debate can be held in Parliament on the issue. Although this does not happen often, it is a good way of finding out how MPs feel about an issue and when asking your MP to sign, a good way for constituents to make them aware of the issue. Please ask your MP to sign the EDM and to join the London Guantánamo Campaign on Tuesday 11 January 2011 in Trafalgar Square to mark the ninth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay [flyer attached – please circulate].
The EDM is at:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42093&SESSION=905 It has been signed by 10 MPs so far.
Following the verdict in the Ghailani case, the LGC had a letter published in The Guardian newspaper making largely the same demands: that the British must act and act now to help close Guantánamo Bay: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/22/ghailani-warning-to-uk
The London Guantánamo Campaign invites you to join us for our action to mark the ninth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay on Tuesday 11 January 2011, Beyond Words: Silent Witness to Injustice. We will be holding a silent lunchtime vigil in Trafalgar Square, opposite the National Gallery. We would like to have 14 participants hold up a letter of the alphabet to spell out: S-H-U-T G-U-A-N-T-A-N-A-M-O. If you are attending and would like to volunteer to hold up a letter of the alphabet, please let us know.
The flyer is attached and the event is also up on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=156090414425731&index=1
Please join us and let others know about this event.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Beyond Words: Silent Witness to InjusticeTuesday 11 January 2011
The London Guantánamo Campaign
invites you to join
a silent vigil from 1-2pm
on the north side of Trafalgar Square, opposite the National Gallery (at the top of the steps from Trafalgar Square)
For more details and/or to register your interest in taking part, please call
07809 757 176 or e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com
www.londonguantanamo.org.uk
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156090414425731&index=1
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