URGENT APPEAL – Sign the e-petition for the return of SHAKER AAMER to the UK – 100,000 signatures needed by 14 May

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29410

February 14th marked the tenth anniversary of the detention without charge or trial of Shaker Aamer, the last Londoner held in Guantánamo Bay. To mark this anniversary, Shaker’s family and solicitor, Gareth Peirce, launched an e-petition to the Foreign Office. If 100,000 signatures are collected on this e-petition by 14th May, it will trigger a debate in parliament on this issue. Please add your name to the petition and ask your friends and family to as well.

Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national, is a British resident from south London. He has a British wife and children, the youngest of whom he has never met. An aid worker in Afghanistan, he was picked up by the Americans in the country, tortured there and in Pakistan before being taken to Guantánamo Bay. He alleges that British intelligence agents were present on one occasion when he was tortured in Afghanistan; this claim is currently subject to a police investigation.

Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the Pentagon in 2007 and his return to the UK was formally sought by the British government in August that year. Four other men whose return was sought at the same time have since returned. Both the British and American governments claim to be making their best efforts to release Mr Aamer, the most recent being during talks between William Hague and Hillary Clinton during David Cameron’s visit to the US in March. No reasons have been given, however, for why Shaker Aamer remains there. In the meantime, his health is reported to have deteriorated seriously, according to his lawyers from Reprieve, and his family continue to suffer without him in London. Ten years is enough! Please sign the petition today.

To sign, you need to be a British national or resident. Age is irrelevant so those below voting age can sign too. An e-mail address is necessary.

This action is support by the London Guantánamo Campaign, the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign and others.

For more information:
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/blog/2012_03_27_free_shaker_petition/
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2012/03/07/return-shaker-aamer-to-the-uk-from-guantanamo-major-publicity-campaign-launched-to-secure-100000-signatures-on-uk-e-petition/
If you would like to receive flyers about the e-petition to distribute to friends, colleagues, local groups, etc., please contact the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign.

Text of the e-petition: “Shaker Aamer is a British resident with a British wife and children who has been imprisoned without trial by the US in Bagram Airforce Base and Guantanamo Bay for over ten years. The Foreign Secretary and the Foreign Office must undertake urgent new initiatives to achieve the immediate transfer of Shaker Aamer to the UK from continuing indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay” (Saeed Siddique, Shaker Aamer’s father-in-law).

For more details, please contact the London Guantánamo Campaign: london.gtmo@gmail.com or the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign: ssac.contact@gmail.com