BRITISH RESIDENTS:
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| Courtesy of Hannah Igbinidion |
NEWS:
Guantánamo Bay:
Noor Uthman
Muhammed, a former prisoner from Sudan, who was released in December 2013
after serving a 34-month sentence in addition to the time he had spent at Guantánamo
after arriving there in 2002 after being convicted by a military tribunal of providing
material support to a terrorist organisation and conspiracy, has had his
charges acquitted. On 9 January the Pentagon said the conviction had been
withdrawn after an appeals court rules that material support is not a
legitimate war crime.
This news could lead to the conviction of former Australian prisoner
David Hicks being overturned as well. Hicks’ US lawyer Stephen Kenny said that
he is likely to see a similar outcome to his case soon. Charged with many offences, Hicks was found "guilty" only on the charge of conspiracy. He did not
plead guilty; he entered an Alford plea, whereby he did not admit guilt. He was
later jailed in Australia on his return to the country in 2007 as part of his
plea bargain deal, which was his only way of Guantánamo, even though an Alford
plea is not recognised under Australian law.
The US later said in January that it admits that Hicks is innocent. The
quashing of his conviction is a formality.
On 15 January, five Yemeni prisoners were released: four to Oman and one
to Estonia. There are currently 122 prisoners at the detention facility. The five
men are all in the 30s and 40s and had been cleared for release since at least
2009.
Following the current unrest in Yemen, the US has said that it will not
be returning prisoners to the country but that will not prevent the release of
Yemeni prisoners who have been cleared for release for years to safe third
countries.
A current prisoner, Mohamedou Slahi from
Mauritania, has had a redacted version of his diary telling of his life in
Guantánamo published following a battle to have it made public. He wrote it by
hand in English when he was held in solitary confinement in 2005. The book
details his journey to Guantánamo and tells of the torture and abuse he has
faced, including gang rape and beatings. Since its release, the book has become
a bestseller on Amazon and has been recommended by many writers and literary
figures.
His lawyers at the ACLU have put together the following petition calling
for his release: https://www.aclu.org/secure/free-slahi
As well as releases, periodic reviews of prisoners who are deemed too
dangerous to release continued. On 22 January, Egyptian Tariq Mahmud Ahmad Muhammad al Sawah, 57, who is suspected of
being involved in Al Qaeda operations against the US in Afghanistan had a
hearing to decide whether the US should continue to hold him or transfer him
back to Egypt. Although suspected, he faces no charges and the periodic review
board is an arbitrary administrative process which has no legal weight.
On 27 January, Yemeni Saeed Ahmed Mohammed
Abdullah Sarem Jarabh had his period review hearing. He too is suspected
of having fought for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, even though he has never been
charged in 13 years and there is no actual evidence against him. His lawyers submitted
that “he had studied Spanish and English at Guantanamo, had headed a prison
farm planning project and had taken up painting” and was eager to
reunite with his wife and children.
Lawyers for Canadian former prisoner Omar Khadr, who is currently held
in prison in Canada and is going blind, will apply for bail in his case in
March pending the outcome of an appeal against his military tribunal conviction
in the US. As shown in the cases of Hicks and Muhammed, the validity of
military tribunal convictions is on shaky ground, but in spite of action to
overturn such convictions in the US, the Canadian government remains a strong believer
in the torture evidence-based secret plea bargain conviction given to Omar
Khadr and opposes all moves to alleviate his suffering.
Extraordinary Rendition:
New information has come to light in recent weeks about Lithuania’s role
in the extraordinary rendition programme, including new flight logs and
information about the transfer of prisoners as part of efforts by human rights
NGOs to hold the state to account for its operation of torture prisons for the
CIA.
LGC Activities:
The LGC marked the
thirteenth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay with street theatre and talks at
the US Embassy on 11 January. Around 150 people joined the demonstration,
during which the public was given a public demonstration through artistic
performance of the hypocrisy of Barack Obama over the closure of Guantánamo
Bay. Speeches were given by Jean Lambert MEP, Ben Griffin from Veterans for
Peace UK, Noa Kleinman from Amnesty International UK, Joy Hurcombe from the
Save Shaker Aamer Campaign and solicitor Louise Christian.
Our next monthly “Shut
Guantánamo!” demo, which marks eight years of our regular demonstrations outside
the US Embassy and the second anniversary of the ongoing Guantánamo hunger
strike will be on Thursday 5 February: https://www.facebook.com/events/765634710187956/
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| Courtesy of Hannah Igbinidion |
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