NEWS:
Guantánamo Bay:
The first round of
periodic review board hearings and recommendations to see whether prisoners who
have not been charged or approved for release can be released or continue to be
held as “forever prisoners” concluded in November with a Saudi prisoner being
cleared for release through this administrative procedure. Jabran Qahtani, 39,
who has been held at Guantánamo since 2002 became the 21st prisoner cleared for release. An
engineering graduate, he was initially charged at Guantánamo but legal
proceedings were quickly dropped. He has been recommended for transfer to Saudi
Arabia only. At the same time, the board rejected the release of Yemeni
prisoner Hani Saleh Rashid Abdullah, 47. He will come
before the review board for a second hearing on 8 December.
At the same time, as those prisoners whose
pleas for release were rejected by the board in the first round generally had
to wait 6 months before being entitled to appear before the board again, the
second round of hearings started in early November with Yemeni Salman Yahya
Hassan Mohammad Rabei'i, who arrived at Guantánamo aged just 22 in 2002 the
first person to have a second hearing.
The review is also
expected to rehear the case of the oldest prisoner at Guantánamo, 69-year old
Pakistani Saifulla Paracha soon. His case was rejected in April and is now due
for rehearing. Deemed a continuing threat at his last hearing, Paracha has
diabetes and a heart condition.
Some of the second round reviews are full hearings where
prisoners can address the board and others are case hearings where the
documents used for the initial assessment are reviewed.Other prisoners who have had a second round full review over the past month include Yemeni Yassin Qasem Muhammad Ismail, 36. http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/11/08/detainee-hopes-2nd-times-the-charm-for-gitmo-release.htm
Yemeni Moath Hamza Ahmed Al-Alwi came
before the board for a second time on 10 November http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/guantanamo-detainee-al-alwi-gets-second-opportunity-ask-his-transfer
The US
authorities are currently trying to have one Malaysian and one Indonesian
prisoner sent to Malaysia. In the case of the Indonesian, Hambali, allegedly
the mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombings, his US lawyers are asking
Australia to take him and try him for the case. The US cannot try him due to
the extreme torture he has suffered following his 2003 kidnapping and in Malaysia
he is unlikely to receive a fair trial and is likely to face the death penalty
as well. Considered a dangerous terrorist, he has never been charged and any
confessions he has made were under duress of torture.
Extraordinary rendition:
On 14 November, in its annual Preliminary Examination Report on
Afghanistan, the International Criminal Court stated that the Office of The
Prosecutor has determined that there are credible grounds to believe and
investigate that war crimes have been committed in Afghanistan by the Taleban, Afghan
intelligence authorities and the police, other government and independent
militias and “US military forces deployed to
Afghanistan and in secret detention facilities operated by the Central
Intelligence Agency, principally in the 2003-2004 period, although allegedly
continuing in some cases until 2014.” An investigation is likely into the crimes
against humanity, including torture and ill-treatment committed by the parties.
Since 2009, Spain’s Supreme Court had been
investigating torture claims brought against Bush-era officials by former
Guantánamo prisoners under Spain’s universal jurisdiction laws, which allow
crimes against humanity, such as torture, to be tried there even though they
were not committed in the state due to their severity. Due to changes in the
law restricting such claims the court finally ruled, following many appeals that
it does not have the power to try such claims and closed the case. At the same time, Spain’s own
complicity in Guantánamo continues as two former prisoners remain in jail there
on dubious charges (and a conviction in one case) related to the ongoing
conflict in Syria.
Documents revealed through a freedom of
information lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union show that the
US Federal Bureau of Prisons visited the CIA’s secret torture facilities in Afghanistan
in 2002 at the expense of the US taxpayer, was aware of the torture there and
tried to cover up the visit. Two employees were sent to the Afghan facilities
and later praised these torture jails where prisoners were kept shackled to
walls or the floor in complete darkness.
LGC Activities:
The November Shut
Guantánamo demonstration was replaced by a special demonstration to coincide
with the US presidential elections. The LGC was not surprised by the election
of Donald Trump and will wait to see what policies he has with respect to
Guantánamo as of January 2017. Barack Obama has failed to close Guantánamo and
it is unlikely that any new president is likely to
implement positive change in this respect. A report of the demonstration at
which we were joined by around 30 people and had a number of speakers from
other campaigns: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/unfinished-business-8-november.html
The last Shut
Guantánamo! Demo of 2016 and under Barack Obama’s presidency is on Thursday 1 December
at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy London and 1.15-2.15pm outside Speaker’s
Corner, Marble Arch, Hyde Park: https://www.facebook.com/events/1848615888716694/
The LGC
(@shutguantanamo) is continuing to hold weekly #GitmObama Twitter storms to
raise awareness about Guantánamo prisoners every Monday at 9pm BST. The pastebin
is available http://pastebin.com/zpx5F7ab
which is updated weekly with the latest information and tweets to raise
awareness about Guantánamo. Please join us online if you can!
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