26 June: VIGIL IN SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS OF CIA TORTURE

UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

the London Guantánamo Campaign invites you to a

VIGIL IN SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS OF CIA TORTURE

With speakers and open mic

Tuesday 26 June 2018, at 6.30-8pm

Outside the US Embassy, 33 Nine Elms Lane, London SW11 7US (nearest underground: Vauxhall)

On 18 May, Donald Trump’s pick for new CIA chief Gina Haspel was confirmed in the position in spite of her role in running a secret CIA torture prison as part of the extraordinary rendition (kidnap and torture) programme. No officials have ever been prosecuted for their role in post-9/11 torture; instead, they are being promoted. Haspel faces being prosecuted for war crimes if she travels to Europe.

Under the guise of the “war on terror”, the CIA has been involved in torture in many countries across the world, running secret torture facilities in Europe, Asia and Africa, and not-so-secret facilities at Bagram in Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib in Iraq. This was only possible with the complicity of many states worldwide, including the UK.

The CIA’s history of the use of torture, human experimentation and other forms of violence is as old as the spy agency itself, with a history of running and participating in a global torture programme against leftists, nationalists and other Cold War "enemies" throughout Latin America and other parts of the world. 

Torture does not work and is illegal. It is a tool to break individuals and intimidate communities. While survivors have to live with the consequences of their ordeal and the scars others cannot see for the rest of the lives, the CIA is remorseless and indifferent to the suffering it has caused.

Take a stand: the LGC has marked this important occasion each year since 2010 and invites you to join us to stand in solidarity with victims worldwide on this day.

For more details, e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com or call 07809 757 176

Borders of Torture: Solidarity Vigil on UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Report

As we have done every year since 2010, the London Guantánamo Campaign marked UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, 26 June, with a public vigil in solidarity with all victims and survivors of torture worldwide. With the international theme this year of “Support Life after Torture”, the LGC turned its attention to one of the biggest crises currently facing the world: the refugee crisis. There are currently over 65 million people worldwide displaced by wars and conflicts and over half of them are children. Many of the people seeking refuge abroad are survivors of torture. As well as a difficult journey to safety, which can include further persecution and inhumane treatment, many men, women and children are denied refuge or are treated like criminals and held in appalling conditions in immigration detention centres and denied access to rehabilitation and adequate care.

The LGC highlighted the poor response from the UK and other European states in a silent vigil attended by around 20 people. Our solidarity action was very visual and powerful. The vigil, entitled the “Borders of Torture” involved activists holding up a washing line with bloodied (no one was harmed in the process) t-shirts and an accompanying banner stating “Don’t Hang Torture Victims out to Dry”. On a sunny and crowded afternoon in central London’s Trafalgar Square, the action was a huge hit with the public. Many people stopped to contemplate the message, take photographs of it, take leaflets and talk to activists handing them out. Overall, the public response was very positive and supportive of the action. The LGC was joined by the Guantánamo Justice Campaign and individuals activists on issues such as covert harassment. The LGC thanks everyone who joined. 

This year’s theme and action are not a departure from our regular work on Guantánamo Bay prisoners as more than half of the remaining 79 prisoners are in the exact same position as the refugees fleeing their homelands. Many cannot return to their countries of origin due to wars there and do not have a safe third country to which they can be sent. Yemenis make up the largest nationality group at Guantánamo. Almost 30 are cleared for release but remain at Guantánamo as they have nowhere to go. Some have been cleared for release for over a decade. As well as offering refuge, states must also ensure that torture survivors have a right to redress and rehabilitation.

Although we take the opportunity to give a voice to the voiceless on 26 June each year, the LGC stands in solidarity with torture victims and survivors every day of the year. Our London vigil was one of dozens held worldwide by different organisations and coordinated by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims.

26 June: Torture Victims Have a Right to Rehabilitation

Solidarity Vigil

As we have done every year since 2010, the London Guantánamo Campaign held a vigil in solidarity with victims and survivors of torture everywhere on Friday 26 June to mark UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The silent vigil, held in Trafalgar Square on a busy Friday evening was attended by around 40 people and supported by the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign.

Noel Hamel (centre) with the banner he made for this event)

One of dozens of events held worldwide to mark this important date, the theme this year is the right to rehabilitation. This involves a number of factors to help restore survivors to the situation they were in – physically, mentally, psychologically, materially – prior to being tortured as best as is possible. It covers a variety of means such as compensation, physical rehabilitation, therapy, justice and guarantees it will not happen again. Although a human right, many victims do not receive any such treatment or facilities.

The right to rehabilitation was highlighted at the vigil with placards, leaflets handed out with information on the issue and banners mentioning the relevant UN articles on rehabilitation for torture victims. Although usually very well received and supported by the general public, increasing misinformation and propaganda in the mainstream media over various issues has left quite a few people confused about what torture is and who torture victims are.

Right to Rehabilitation and Guantánamo Prisoners*

The right to rehabilitation is a major issue for both former and the remaining 112 Guantánamo prisoners. All are survivors of torture both at the prison camp and in other US military and CIA-run facilities. The release at the end of 2014 of a redacted version of the US Senate report into CIA torture under the so-called War on Terror has shed further light on the abuses and inhumane practices prisoners – the vast majority of whom have never been charged or tried – have been subjected to.

Earlier this month, gruesome details were published of the torture faced by Majid Khan who after being kidnapped in Pakistan in 2003 was held at secret CIA torture prisons between 2003 and 2006 until being taken to Guantánamo Bay. Earlier this year, lawyers for one of the defendants facing trial for alleged involvement in the September 11 2001 attacks revealed details of the torture their client suffered through CIA torture and from which he still suffers due to inadequate medical care, including the inability to sit down comfortably due to rape.

 

Few prisoners have ever received adequate medical care at Guantánamo Bay. It was only in 2014 that Omar Khadr, held at Guantánamo Bay for over a decade, and released to his native Canada in 2012 finally received treatment for a shoulder injury he sustained in 2002. A former Russian prisoner, released in 2004, still has a bullet lodged in his thigh from an injury in an Afghan prison in 2001 due to inadequate care at Guantánamo and in Russia. 

In addition, the response to prisoners protesting their indefinite detention through hunger strikes has been met with more torture through force-feeding. The long-term effects of such action on the body are not dealt with and can lead to further health complications later on. The US must provide the prisoners it is currently holding with adequate medical care and also expedite periodic reviews of prisoners held without charge or trial, deemed “forever prisoners”, as a means of rehabilitation.

For prisoners who are released, rehabilitation can remain a challenge. With the current drive to empty Guantánamo by the Obama administration, over the past year, many of those released have been sent to third countries due to insecurity and war in their own countries of origin. As the US washes its hands of prisoners as soon as they are released, some can find themselves facing almost-complete isolation and poverty in their new surroundings. In May 2015, a former prisoner released to Kazakhstan at the end of 2014 died of kidney failure due to inadequate medical care at Guantánamo and after his release. 

 

While the US is applauded for prisoner releases, not much emphasis is put on the often precarious situations former prisoners find themselves in post-release. The US must ensure that all prisoners are released to countries where they are safe and their physical and moral integrity is not compromised. They must be guaranteed the right to rehabilitation, including legal, medical and financial assistance.

 

The London Guantánamo Campaign remains committed to ensuring justice for all Guantánamo prisoners. While we emphasised how this issue affects Guantánamo prisoners, it relates closely as well to all prisoners who have been and are the subject of extraordinary rendition, an ongoing programme by the CIA.

Media of the event:

http://www.demotix.com/news/7951250/london-vigil-un-international-day-support-victims-torture#media-7951240

* These issues were raised at a meeting held in the UK parliament on Tuesday 23 June 2015 on the case of British resident and Guantánamo prisoner Shaker Aamer by Aisha Maniar, organiser of the London Guantánamo Campaign