LGC Newsletter – September 2012

NEWS:
British Residents:
Having previously refused to disclose the names of prisoners cleared for release, the US Justice Department issued a list of 55 prisoners, including Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, on Friday 21 September. Although a partial list of the 86 prisoners approved for transfer several years ago but who continue to be held at Guantánamo Bay for a number of reasons, civil liberties organisations in the US have hailed this unexpected disclosure as a positive step. A previous request for disclosure was turned down in 2009. While the release of this list does not equate to the release of the prisoners or that the US has no objections to their release, it should facilitate the process of campaigning for them. In the case of Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, there are clearly no reasons for them to remain at Guantánamo and the British government has no reason not to seek their return.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/world/americas/united-states-clears-55-detainees-to-leave-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=1&
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/breaking-us-issues-list-of-55-guantanamo-detainees-cleared-for-transfer/ (includes a link to Amnesty USA action to US government to return Shaker Aamer to the UK)

Guantánamo Bay:

On 8 September, 36-year old Yemeni prisoner Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif became the ninth prisoner to die at Guantánamo Bay. The US military withheld his identity for several days. He had travelled to Pakistan, where he was captured, for medical treatment following a car accident that he could not afford in his own country. Having pleaded his innocence all along, he won his habeas corpus case before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in July 2010; the judge ordered the Obama administration to “take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate Latif's release forthwith” and stated that the US government had failed to demonstrate any connections with Al Qaeda or its associates. Following disclosures by Wikileaks, it later emerged that he had been cleared for release by the US military as early as 2006. Letters to his lawyer revealing his despair at his ongoing and apparently perpetual detention were reported in the media after his death. The cause of death remains unknown.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-falkoff-gitmo-detainee-death-20120920,0,4034278.story

Omar Khadr turned 26 in Guantánamo Bay on 19 September. Earlier in the month, Minister of Public Security, Vic Toews, received the video materials and psychiatric reports he had requested of the US government to decide whether to seek Omar Khadr’s repatriation. The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/12/omar-khadr-canada-return_n_1878041.html) later reported that Omar Khadr would be returned to Canada before the US elections. This was denied by the Canadian government, however in a final twist in this protracted matter, Omar Khadr finally returned to Canada on Saturday 29 September. Upon his return he was taken to the Milhaven detention institute where he remains in a cell for 23 hours a day and where he will serve out the remaining 6 years of his 8 year sentence, having pleaded guilty to the killing of an American soldier in a secret plea bargain before a military tribunal at Guantánamo in 2010. However, Omar Khadr will be due to be considered for parole in May 2013. Having acquiesced to one of its citizens appearing before the much-criticised and flawed military tribunal regime at Guantánamo in 2010, the Canadian government continues to insist that Omar Khadr is a “terrorist”, even though he was not given a fair trial under any recognised definition of the term. 166 prisoners remain at Guantánamo.

Extraordinary rendition:

The American human rights NGO, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has published a major new report on rendition and Libya, claiming that the CIA tortured opponents of the Gaddafi regime before rendering them to Libya where they faced further abuse. Based on interviews with 14 survivors and MI6 and CIA documents obtained by the NGO in Libya last year, the report states that the use of waterboarding was more far extensive than claimed by the US government and that the scope of the abuse carried out by the CIA itself under the guise of extraordinary rendition is far broader than admitted. The report can be read at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/09/05/delivered-enemy-hands

In early September, control of Bagram prison in Afghanistan was handed over from the US to the Afghan authorities in a low-key ceremony; the US, however, is maintaining control of hundreds of prisoners at the facility, now known as the Parwan Detention Centre, whom it claims are “high-value prisoners”, including around 50 foreign nationals, such as Pakistani rendition victim Yunus Rahmatullah. The US intends to hand control of all prison facilities and prisoners to the Afghan authorities by 2014. The decision to maintain control over prisoners has angered the Afghan authorities and the actual terms of the handover are unclear. More than 3000 prisoners are currently held at Bagram without trial or charge. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19539412

The British government’s proposals to prevent civil cases concerning torture claims coming to court through the use of secret courts have been condemned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Prof. Juan Mendez, in a talk he gave in London, stating that this “hampers the ability to deal effectively with torture”. These measures, currently proposed in the Justice and Security Bill would prevent cases seeking disclosure of the government’s involvement in extraordinary rendition and torture abroad, such as the Binyam Mohamed case and the case brought by former Guantánamo prisoners, being heard in open court, effectively denying justice for torture victims and immunity for state agents potentially involved in crimes against humanity.  

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/sep/11/un-official-secret-courts-torture

On 11 September, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted unanimously to back a new report by parliamentarians, calling for EU members to investigate allegations of complicity in extraordinary rendition and for member states to be held accountable. The report and the parliament called on Lithuania, Poland and Romania to reopen independent investigations into their collusion through hosting torture facilities. The report criticised the current Polish criminal investigation for its lack of transparency. French Green MEP Hélène Flautre called on EU states to “"openly acknowledge that these abuses took place and take measures to address them." British Liberal Democrat MEP Sarah Ludford called on the EU to “have the guts and self-respect to enforce accountability for its own members' involvement in human rights abuses”. The report is non-binding and opposition MEPs accused the report of being based on allegations.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20323

The Italian Court of Cassation, the highest criminal court in the country, upheld the convictions of 23 Americans tried in absentia of involvement in the abduction and rendition to torture of Egyptian imam Osama Mustafa Nasr in Milan in 2003. With the help of two Italian intelligence agents, he was taken to a Milan airport and then rendered to torture in Egypt via a NATO base in Germany. Released four years later, he claimed he had been tortured. Following a 3-year trial, the 23 Americans, 22 of whom were held by the court to be CIA agents, were convicted and given 7-9 year sentences. The court also ordered damaged be paid to the victim and his family. The Italian government is now likely to seek the retrial of the two Italians involved and the extradition of the Americans, who face arrest if travelling in Europe. This decision is the final ruling in the first ever court case concerning extraordinary rendition. A lawyer for the Americans accused the decision of undermining diplomatic immunity.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/20/italy-rendition-convictions-americans

 

LGC Activities:
The September “Shut Down Guantánamo!” demonstration was held on 6^th September and was attended by 10 people. The October demonstration will be held on Thursday 4 October at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy and 1.15-2.15pm outside Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park (opposite Marble Arch).  http://www.facebook.com/events/568546839838264/

The London Guantánamo Campaign is currently in the process of setting up its action to mark the 11^th anniversary of the opening of the current incarnation of Guantánamo Bay as a prison camp in January 2013. Under the heading of “All Roads Lead to Guantánamo", we are planning a day of action taking in actions outside embassies involved in the journey of prisoners to Guantánamo, culminating in a vigil outside the US Embassy. Please get involved and help us to plan and carry out the action on the day, Friday 11^th January 2013. You can follow our progress and get involved via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AllRoadsLeadToGuantanamo?fref=ts and Twitter: @allroadsleadG11

LGC Newsletter – August 2012

NEWS:
British Residents:The Metropolitan Police, following a joint decision with the Crown Prosecution Service, announced that it will investigate claims that British agents were involved in the torture of Shaker Aamer. This could involve detectives seeking permission from the US authorities to interview Shaker Aamer in Guantánamo Bay about allegations he made to his lawyers. British intelligence agents are alleged to have been present and attended interrogations fully aware that Mr Aamer had been tortured.
http://www.itv.com/news/2012-08-02/british-police-to-investigate-allegations-of-prisoner-torture-at-guantanamo-bay/

Guantánamo Bay:
The Egyptian government has formally demanded the release of the last Egyptian prisoner held at Guantánamo Bay. Tariq Mahmoud Ahmed al-Sawah, 54, was charged with material support for terrorism and conspiracy in 2008 but those charges were dropped earlier this year without trial. During his time at Guantánamo Bay, his captors have considered him a co-operative prisoner who provided them with information about other prisoners. The new Egyptian government has in particular expressed concerns about his health following almost 11 years of abuse and illegal detention.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypt-demands-release-of-guantanamo-detainee/2012/08/03/7fac84a0-dd9d-11e1-8ad1-909913931f71_story.html

Pre-trial hearings for five men accused of involvement in the 11 September attacks in New York in 2001, including Khaled Sheikh Mohamed, which were initially set back from early to late August, so as not to clash with the Muslim month of fasting Ramadan, have now been set back to mid-October. The hearing, set for 22 August, was delayed by one day, following a train derailment near Baltimore which damaged the fibre optic cable linked to the US government’s computer system on the island, which meant that the prosecution was unable to access e-mails and electronic legal documents to prepare its case. It was then postponed again as Hurricane Isaac headed for the Caribbean. The hurricane battered the island of Cuba on the weekend of 25-26 August and prisoners who are housed in secured structures were moved to safer premises. Media, human rights observers and victims’ families attending the hearing were all evacuated.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tropical-storm-isaac-heads-toward-guantanamo-bay/2012/08/22/1769c7ca-ec7c-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, a 37-year old Saudi prisoner, has been charged, more than 10 years later, with training with Al-Qaeda and plotting to attack oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and Yemen. The attacks he is alleged to have helped prepare took place in 2000 and 2002. He faces 6 charges and if tried, will be brought before a military tribunal. Facing the possibility of a life sentence, if he enters a plea bargain with the US military, his testimony could be used against Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri, accused of masterminding attacks against the US in Yemen and a fellow prisoner who faces the death penalty if convicted. Evidence against the latter was obtained from waterboarding and other forms of torture.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hqGpu5xIgGXVoXd2jn0m27Iqb5Xw?docId=CNG.ffa46a17e4a24172cdb19bfa8da68ae7.291
Extraordinary rendition:
Investigators in Poland, looking into the country’s alleged role in extraordinary rendition and operation of secret torture jails for the CIA have extended their investigation until February 2013. Reasons were not given, however Polish journalists have recently claimed to have found records of at least 7 CIA planes landing at a Polish military base in 2002 and 2003.

LGC Activities:
The August “Shut Down Guantánamo!” demonstration was held on 2nd August and was attended by 3 people. The September demonstration will be held on Thursday 6 September at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy and 1.15-2.15pm outside Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park (opposite Marble Arch).

LGC Newsletter – May 2012

NEWS:
British Residents:
Shaker Aamer’s American lawyer Ramzi Kassem has obtained new information which sheds light on the abuse his client continues to face. Declassified notes from a January meeting between the two men show that Mr Aamer was held in solitary confinement from July to December 2011 as punishment, during which time he was confined to his cell 24 hours a day and subjected to sleep deprivation techniques. In the two months prior to his lawyer’s visit (December 2011 and January 2012), he was subject to beatings, for which he says he did not receive adequate medical treatment.
More on this news: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/119282
Spectacle Films has made a new short documentary (18 minutes) on Shaker Aamer’s plight. This interesting and informative film (recommended viewing!) can be viewed at:
http://www.spectacle.co.uk/projects_page.php?id=485

Andy Worthington has written an update on the case of former Bournemouth resident Ahmed Belbacha, who like Shaker Aamer, remains at Guantánamo Bay, over five years after having been cleared for release and never having faced any charges: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2012/05/20/ahmed-belbacha-an-algerian-refugee-in-guantanamo-has-been-waiting-for-a-new-home-since-2007/

Guantánamo Bay:
An American company involved in the building of the prison units and cages at Guantánamo Bay has been shortlisted among other contractors for a £1.5 billion contract to run policing facilities in the West Midlands and Surrey, as part of the Coalition government’s first attempt to privatise this key public facility. Kellogg Brown & Root, which was previously owned by Halliburton, winning major Pentagon contracts after 9/11, is part of one of the bidding consortiums. Its former chief executive is former US vice-president and advocate of the use of torture, Dick Cheney.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/03/guantanamo-contractor-shortlist-uk-police-services

Abdul Aziz Naji, an Algerian prisoner released from Guantánamo Bay and forcedly returned to Algeria in 2010, has been denied bail by an Algerian judge even though he met all the bail criteria, and remains in jail. Although cleared of all charges by the US, Mr Naji was convicted in January this year and sentenced to a three-year sentence on the charge of membership of a terrorist organisation abroad, based on allegations made while he was held at Guantánamo; according to his lawyers at Reprieve, no new evidence was brought against him or any proving the charge. Prisoner conditions in Algerian prisons are notorious and Mr Naji’s health complications suffered as a result of US detention are further exacerbated by his current situation. His lawyers plan to reapply for bail as well as appeal his conviction.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2012_05_02_ex_guantanamo_aziz_denied_bail_Algeria/

The military tribunal of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and four other men accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks in New York in 2001 started on 5 May amid much controversy. President Barack Obama, starting his presidential re-election campaign at around the same time, had suspended military tribunals and promised civilian trials for Guantánamo prisoners when he assumed the presidency in 2009. Despite changes having been made to the system, evidence tainted by torture will still be admitted – most of the defendants have been subject to waterboarding, among other forms of torture – and national security sensitive material is being kept closed. The defendants refused to answer the judge’s questions. The next hearing in this court case will take place in early August.
A good analysis of the proceedings is provided by Tom Parker of Amnesty USA: http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/the-elephant-in-the-courtroom/
Since this hearing, at which the men were all formally charged, the military commission board is now considering whether it should hear their cases separately. The judge has ordered prosecutors to file submissions providing reasons why the cases should not be heard separately. He did not state how many separate cases he may consider. The prosecution usually prefers to have cases heard together. This is the first time joined cases are being heard at Guantánamo Bay.

Al-Jazeera has issued a new documentary about the use of music as a form of torture at Guantánamo Bay, featuring the composer Christopher Cerf, who composed the theme song of the popular children’s TV programme Sesame Street and at least 200 other songs for the show. His songs were played loudly and incessantly as a form of abuse of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Mr Cerf was reportedly shocked to learn of how his music was used. The documentary can be watched on Al-Jazeera or online at http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2012/05/201253072152430549.html

Extraordinary rendition:
Lloyds Bank, which is 40%-owned by the UK taxpayer, is one of a number of City firms under pressure for its investment in an American company allegedly involved in rendition flights. Lloyds has an £8.5 million investment in CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) which is accused of helping the CIA to organise the flight schedules for rendition flights. Reprieve has asked CSC investors to pressure it into taking a public stand against torture. CSC has not responded to a letter from the legal charity but Lloyds and other investors have demanded that CSC address these allegations.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/06/lloyds-computer-sciences-corporation-cia-rendition

On 16 May, the European Court of Human Rights started to hear the first case brought before it concerning extraordinary rendition. Following failed attempts to prosecute the American and German authorities before the US, German and Spanish courts, the current case is being brought by Khaled El-Masri, a German national, against Macedonia for its role in his kidnap and torture. In 2003, while on holiday in the country, Mr El Masri was kidnapped and detained illegally in the country for three weeks before being handed over to the CIA, which flew him to Afghanistan where he was tortured for months before being released. Realising that it was a case of mistaken identity, Mr El Masri was flown to Albania where he was released and left on a roadside by his captors. The case is being brought for a breach of his right to liberty and freedom from torture. Other countries are likely to be prosecuted too as part of this case and as more evidence is revealed, implicating countries such as Germany.
Other cases are pending against other Council of Europe states, including Lithuania and Poland by prisoners held at secret jails in those countries.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/16/macedonia-trial-human-rights-abuses-911?newsfeed=true

A new academic project has been started by Dr Ruth Blakeley at the University of Kent and Dr Sam Raphael at Kingston University called the Rendition Project http://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/index.html This project aims to bring together all the available public data on extraordinary renditions, including on individual cases, the countries involved, issues and cases, providing an extensive wealth of information and a new understanding of the CIA’s extralegal programme.

On 29 May, almost a week after originally planned, the government published the draft Justice and Security Bill. Although climbing down over plans for secret inquests, the government is keen to press ahead with plans to ensure that cases such as those brought by Binyam Mohamed and former Guantánamo prisoners against the government for its alleged involvement in their rendition and torture are never brought again. The latter case ended in an out-of-court settlement. The proposals, to use closed courts and secret evidence in the alleged course of protecting “national security” seriously threaten to undermine the English legal system as it has existed for centuries and have already faced considerable opposition.

LGC Activities:
The May “Shut Down Guantánamo!” demonstration was held on 4th May and was attended by 7 people. The June demonstration is on Thursday 7 June at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy and 1.15-2.15pm at Marble Arch: http://www.facebook.com/events/231402770302301/

The London Guantánamo Campaign spoke at the Stop The War Coalition “No to NATO!” demonstration on Saturday 19 May, attended by several hundred people. We also joined the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign at a stall to raise awareness and collect signatures on the Shaker Aamer e-petition.

Tuesday 26 June marks International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The LGC will be holding a vigil to mark that date and show solidarity at 6-8pm in Trafalgar Square (north side). We invite you to join us: http://www.facebook.com/events/176774015784254/ We will need help with this event so if you can help out – planning or on the day – please let us know. More details shortly.

LGC Newsletter - February 2012

NEWS:
British Residents:
On 14 February, the last British resident, recognised as such by the government, marked his tenth anniversary of detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay. Shaker Aamer’s return to the UK was sought officially with that of four other British residents in August 2007; they have all since returned. In spite of alleged ongoing efforts between the US and the UK to release Shaker Aamer, who is a Saudi national with a British family, including recent talks between William Hague and Hillary Clinton, no reasons have been given for why he remains there or what the potential block may be; both sides blame each other for the delay. His British lawyer, Gareth Peirce, wrote the following in the Guardian on the anniversary date:
http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/commentisfree/2012/feb/13/shaker-aamer-guantanamo-bay
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign also held two events to mark Shaker Aamer’s tenth inexplicable year of detention: a demonstration and public meeting in Battersea on 11 February and a protest demonstration outside the US Embassy on 14 February, during which a letter was delivered to the Embassy.
http://www.demotix.com/news/1053578/protesters-valentine-obama-calls-release-shaker-aamer
http://simonhoggblogs.com/2012/02/11/guantanamo-comes-to-clapham-junction-shaker-aamers-10-years-without-charge-or-trial/
To mark the anniversary, Shaker Aamer’s family and lawyers put together the following e-petition to the government: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29410 100,000 signatures are needed on the petition by 14 May for a debate to be held in parliament on this issue. Please add your name to the petition and ask friends and family to add theirs too.

On 9 February, British resident Ahmed Belbacha, who has not been recognised as such by the British government, which considers him a failed asylum seeker as he was in Bagram when his asylum appeal was held in 2001, marked his tenth anniversary of detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay. Like Shaker Aamer, he was cleared for release by the Pentagon in 2007 and neither man is deemed to pose a threat. Although he can return to his native Algeria, due to fear of further abuse there, as has happened to other prisoners who have returned there, and for lack of another country to accept him, he has remained at Guantánamo Bay for the past five years as a hostage of the international community. The London Guantánamo Campaign believes that after 10 years of such detention and treatment Mr Belbacha’s current or past residency status in the UK is an irrelevant consideration and the UK should allow him to return to this country, where he worked and resided for at least eighteen months, on humanitarian grounds, as other EU states have done with other prisoners.

Guantánamo Bay:
Later this year, American voters will go to the polls to elect a new president. Back in 2008, Barack Obama, who will seek re-election to a second term of office as president, made the closure of Guantánamo Bay (but not an end to extraordinary rendition) one of his main campaigning policies. One of the first things he did as president was sign a decree ordering the closure of Guantánamo Bay by early 2010, within the first year of his presidency, and ending the use of military commissions. Instead, as he heads towards his second election campaign, he has chosen to perpetuate and add a legal gloss to the regime at Guantánamo Bay by signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2012) into law and has resumed military commissions. Guantánamo Bay will not feature as an issue in this year’s election campaign.
Instead, a recent official report in the US has again claimed that over a quarter of prisoners freed from Guantánamo Bay have resumed hostilities against the US: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gPyoxa_dqaV1fJ5C_dOPCyqvJ0mw?docId=1e26ff302e794305ad04c5f096c52cd0 and a recent survey claimed that the majority of Americans are satisfied with Obama’s foreign policy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-finds-broad-support-for-obamas-counterterrorism-policies/2012/02/07/gIQAFrSEyQ_story.html including failing to close Guantánamo Bay and his open use of unmanned drone attacks all over the world to deal with alleged opponents of his regime, an extralegal method this Nobel Peace Prize-winning lawyer and US president has chosen to make his weapon of choice, as opposed to illegal detention.

Majid Khan, 32, a Pakistani prisoner, who had previously resided in the US, was charged earlier this month with war crimes, including murder and attempted murder. Regarded as a “high-value” prisoner, rather than having to wait months for an actual trial, he was arraigned almost immediately and reached a plea bargain whereby he pleaded guilty to charges against him in return for a reduced sentence, of no more than 25 years, by agreeing to testify against other high-value prisoners, such as Khaled Sheikh Mohamed. His actual sentencing will be deferred until 2016, for four whole years, to ensure he keeps up this part of the bargain. Majid Khan “disappeared” in 2003 into the CIA’s network of secret torture prisons around the world and re-emerged at Guantánamo Bay in 2006. What happened to Khan during those three years was not of concern during his hearing. This case is expected to speed up other outstanding prosecution cases at Guantánamo but does little to address the fundamental issues, such as the use of torture to obtain evidence, over a decade in delay in actual prosecution, etc. or the defendant’s right to a basic fair trial.

Extraordinary rendition:
Yunus Rahmatullah, a Pakistani national who was handed over to the US authorities by the British army in Iraq in 2004, was later transferred to Bagram in Afghanistan where he has been held without charge or trial and largely without contact with the outside world since. Following a High Court ruling in December last year, the British government was ordered to secure his release from the Americans or otherwise find itself in breach of international criminal law and at risk of prosecution for the conditions under which Mr Rahmatullah was handed over to the US. The court gave the government until 19 February to do this. Unfortunately, the British government, in spite of its “special relationship” with the US, failed to secure his freedom and consequently the legal charity, Reprieve, which represents him handed over the issue to the police to bring the relevant prosecutions against those individuals and officials responsible for his ordeal: http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2012_02_21_yunus_habeas_decision/ The court accepted the government’s reasons for why it was unable to secure his release; nonetheless, the court and both the US and UK governments agree that war crimes were committed against Mr Rahmatullah.

LGC Activities:
The LGC marked the fifth anniversary of its regular “Shut Down Guantánamo!” demonstrations outside the US Embassy on 3 February. In sub-zero temperatures, around 25 activists joined a special candlelight vigil which included special performances by Actors for Human Rights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8deBsuyd95A&context=C3df4f6aADOEgsToPDskIRUIygGP084r018I8uMCmu
and poet Sergio Amigo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCDC81P5i58&feature=context&context=C3df4f6aADOEgsToPDskIRUIygGP084r018I8uMCmu
https://london.indymedia.org/articles/11611
http://www.demotix.com/news/1033393/london-guant-namo-campaign-candlelit-vigil
The March demonstration, held on 1st March, was attended by 5 people.

LGC Newsletter – January 2012

NEWS:

Guantánamo Bay:
Guantánamo Bay had its tenth birthday on Wednesday 11 January. While this was marked by protests, meetings and other actions all over the world, the prisoners themselves chose to mark it with a hunger strike. According to a lawyer of some of the men held there, they also marked it with protests in the communal areas of the illegal prison.
During Prime Minister’s Question Time the day before, David Cameron told the House of Commons, in response to a question put to him, that: “The foreign secretary is working very hard with the United States to try and secure this issue and to bring this chapter to a close” and is seeking the release of Shaker Aamer to the United Kingdom; William Hague discussed the matter with his American counterpart at the end of 2011.

On 17 and 18 January, a military commission hearing was held at Guantánamo Bay in the case of Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, for his alleged involvement in the bombing of a US warship off the coast of Yemen in 2000. Al-Nashiri faces the death penalty if convicted and the evidence in his case has in part been obtained through the use of torture, including waterboarding, when he was held at secret CIA facilities as a victim of extraordinary rendition between 2002 and 2004. During the two-day hearing, various motions were put to the judge concerning procedural matters in the case, such as having an open hearing, what evidence is to be used, and issues related to fairness and costs. Observers at this very important case noted that due to the complicated rules of military commissions and the lack of any judicial precedent for the judge to follow, many of these issues remained unresolved after the hearing, which has been set back until April, when these issues will be considered again. Observers from the ACLU concluded that were the trial to be held before a civil court, in such a case where the death penalty may be applied, the proceedings would progress much faster.

On 13 January, a senior Spanish judge reopened an investigation into four cases of torture alleged by prisoners formerly held at Guantánamo Bay. In making his decision, Judge Pablo Rafael Ruz Gutierrez sought additional information, including medical reports, NGO reports, and testimonies from former US military officials. Specific charges have not been brought yet pending further investigation. This case, brought under universal jurisdiction laws, followed a request by the Bush administration to Spain to prosecute a prisoner released to Spain, Lahcen Ikassrien, on terrorism charges. He was tried and convicted; however, the case was later thrown out on appeal as the evidence was unreliable as he had been tortured. He was joined in his complaint by another former Spanish prisoner and two British residents, whose extradition Spain had sought upon their release from Guantánamo Bay in 2007, Jamil El-Banna and Omar Deghayes. As the Obama administration has decided not to prosecute any officials for crimes related to Guantánamo Bay and the wider war on terror under the Bush administration, the Spanish judiciary will instead hold its own investigation.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/13/135861/spanish-judge-reopens-guantanamo.html

Following news of official investigations in the UK and Spain, a French investigating magistrate has made an official request to visit Guantánamo Bay as part of an investigation into allegations of torture and abuse by three former French prisoners. Judge Sophie Clement is also seeking all documents concerning procedures and conditions of prisoner treatment relating to the time that they were arrested and held in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The three former prisoners are Mourad Benchellali, Nizar Sassi and Khaled Ben Mustapha. She may also seek to question former and current US military personnel and prosecutions of foreign officials may be brought in France.

On 23 January, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, condemned the US government, on the third anniversary of President Obama’s broken promise to close the illegal jail, for having “entrenched a system of arbitrary detention” and the lack of accountability for human rights violations there. She also condemned the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which “make[s] matters worse”.

A former Algerian prisoner, Abdul Aziz Naji, who was forced to return to Algeria against his will by the Obama administration in 2010 after being cleared for released, has been sent to jail in Algeria following charges brought against him based on the unsubstantiated claims of membership of a terrorist organisation for which he was held at Guantánamo. A guilty verdict was delivered without any evidence being shown and Mr Naji, who is in poor health, was imprisoned. He plans to appeal. Upon return to Algeria in 2010, he “disappeared” immediately for over a week as he was held by the security forces.

Extraordinary rendition:
One of the men, in whose 2004 rendition to Libya the British government was found to be complicit, following documents found by Human Rights Watch in Tripoli in September last year, Abdul Hakim Belhadj, withdrew his participation in the Gibson (Detainee) Inquiry on 6 January. This followed a letter signed by several NGOs including Reprieve, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch asking the Inquiry to rethink its terms and procedures:
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/media/downloads/2012_01_06_PUB_Letter_to_the_Prime_Minister_re_the_Detainee_Inquiry.pdf
On 12 January, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Keir Starmer QC, announced that criminal investigations into the complicity of an intelligence service officer in the torture of Binyam Mohamed and another separate case concerning a prisoner elsewhere would not continue and there will be no prosecutions, due to a lack of evidence, in spite of the seriousness of the allegations. http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_statements/joint_statement_by_the_director_of_public_prosecutions_and_the_metropolitan_police_service/
At the same time, however, they announced that a criminal investigation would be held into the allegations of British intelligence complicity in the rendition to Libya of Abdul Hakim Belhadj and his family and Sami Al-Saadi. Both men who started proceedings to sue the government for its complicity in November are said to be pleased to cooperate with this criminal inquiry. The CPS also announced that it had set up a panel to consider other serious complaints, including one made by Shaker Aamer; officers may seek to question him about it at Guantánamo Bay. Shaker Aamer alleges that a British intelligence officer was present throughout while he was being abused during an interrogation at Bagram. A former Algerian prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, who had lived in the UK, Ahcene Zemeri, has made similar claims and these too will be investigated. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16523249
Those to be interviewed by the police as part of these criminal inquiries may include former ministers, such as Jack Straw, and senior civil servants and intelligence officers.
The announcement of the new criminal inquiries and the suspension of the earlier inquiries called into question how much of a delay this would constitute to the proceedings of the Gibson (Detainee) Inquiry; the inquiry cannot start while there are ongoing criminal inquiries into similar matters. As a consequence, on 19 January, the Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced in the House of Commons that the Detainee would not be going ahead but that the government is still committed to a judge-led inquiry into the allegations of abuse once these criminal inquiries are concluded. The Detainee Inquiry has been subject to considerable criticism; most of the individuals making the complaints it was to investigate, their lawyers and human rights NGOs had already withdrawn from its proceedings. Nonetheless, an investigation into these matters – one that is effective, transparent, comprehensive and offers remedies to the victims – is vital. As the inquiry has started its preliminary work, it will provide a report of its findings thus far to parliament in due course.

As part of ongoing negotiations between the US and Afghan governments, including concerning the repatriation of Afghan nationals held at Guantánamo Bay, the Afghan president Hamid Karzai has demanded that control of Bagram be handed over to the Afghan authorities. In considering this, the US administration is currently considering releasing the 50 or so non-Afghan nationals (out of a prison population of 2400+) currently held at Bagram, who are mostly Pakistani and Arab. This also comes further to an order by the High Court in London that Pakistani prisoner Yunus Rahmatullah, held without charge or trial since 2004, must be returned to British custody by 14 February. He is likely to be one of the first prisoners to be released.

LGC Activities:
To mark the 10th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay, the London Guantánamo Campaign held a rally on Saturday 7 January at 2-4pm in Trafalgar Square, “Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame”, organised with the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, the Stop The War Coalition and the Campaign Against Nuclear Disarmament: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2012/01/shut-guantanamo-end-ten-years-of-shame.html A few hundred people joined the rally and a prisoner parade to represent each of the remaining 171 prisoners was held.

On 11 January, the actual anniversary date, the LGC delivered a petition to the US Embassy, signed by over 400 people, demanding the closure of Guantánamo Bay and the release and return to the UK of prisoners Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha. http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=5684

On 3 February, at 6-8pm, the LGC will mark the fifth anniversary of its regular “Shut Down Guantánamo!” protest outside the US Embassy with a candlelight vigil. We will be joined by a performance from The Rendition Monologues by Actors for Human Rights and actor Sergio Amigo reading poems by Guantánamo prisoners.

Shut Down Guantánamo! - Candlelight Vigil to Mark Fifth Anniversary of Protest, 3 February

Friday 3 February. 6-8pm, outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE (nearest underground: Bond Street/ Marble Arch)
A decade since the arrival of the first twenty inmates at Guantánamo Bay, the campaign to close the extra-legal US military prison and torture camp is far from over.
In February 2007, the London Guantánamo Campaign began a regular presence outside the US embassy in Mayfair, calling for the return of the eight British residents still being held indefinitely at the US naval base on an occupied corner of Cuba, and for the closure of this legal black hole. Six of the men have since been released, all but one of them to the UK.
Five years on, the prison camp is still open and two British residents remain: Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha. Over that period, we have held weekly - for the first year and a half - and then monthly demonstrations, which continue to this day. These have included special actions, such as in solidarity with accused Wikileaks whistleblower Private Bradley Manning and other US prisoners, with Canadian child soldier Omar Khadr during his military tribunal, and to mark the tenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan.
To mark our five years of witness, we will hold a special two-hour candlelight vigil on Friday 3 February, 6-8pm. Please join us.
We will have some special performances from 6.30-7.30pm, including:
- Actors for Human Rights, performing from the Rendition Monologues- Sergio Amigo, actor / performer, reading poems by the prisoners
If you are a spoken word artist and would like to contribute, please get in touch.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/283567015033347
All are welcome. For more details, e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com or call 07809 757 176

Report of the very first demonstration in February 2007: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/02/362319.html

The Campaign to Close Guantánamo Bay Goes On...

Earlier this month, Guantánamo Bay marked its tenth year as an illegal detention and torture prison, where 171 prisoners still remain, largely without charge or trial. In spite of the recent setback posed by the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2012 by President Obama, effectively keeping Guantánamo Bay open and extending its regime of arbitrary detention indefinitely, the campaign to close Guantánamo Bay is very much alive, all over the world, and it needs YOUR support.

Wherever you are, join in local actions, start your own and see the list of actions (petitions/write to your political representative) below you can take from the comfort of your armchair/desk!

If you are in London, please join us for some of the following actions in February:
3rd February: 6-8pm: Candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy, London, to mark 5 years of the London Guantánamo Campaign’s regular “Shut Down Guantánamo!” demo With performers and poets, including Actors for Human Rights performing from The Rendition Monologues and actor Sergio Amigo reading poems by Guantánamo prisoners
http://london.indymedia.org/events/11454
http://www.facebook.com/events/283567015033347/

11th February: Guantánamo Chain Gang: Free Shaker Aamer (to mark Shaker’s 10th year in Guantánamo): ASSEMBLE 12 NOON outside NORTHCOTE RD BAPTIST CHURCH, NORTHCOTE RD, LONDON SW11 6DB – organised by the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign
Walking slowly in chains through the streets of Battersea and Clapham Junction to a rally at the Battersea Islamic Culture and Education Centre, Falcon Road, SW11 2PF

14th February: Guantánamo Chain Gang at the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, W1A, 2pm – organised by the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign
On Tuesday 14 February, Shaker will have been in Guantanamo for 10 years. Please join us at the US Embassy, London, to hand in cards and petitions for President Obama.
Banners, drums and noise welcome.
More details: ssac.contact@gmail.com www.saveshaker.org

Online actions you can take:
- Get your MP to sign EDM 2558 tabled by Caroline Lucas MP to mark the 10th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2558
Send a short e-mail/letter to your MP (find their contact details at www.theyworkforyou.com) reminding them that Guantánamo Bay has been open for 10 years now and is no closer to closure and two British residents, Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, remain there, both held for over 10 years without charge or trial
- Sign Amnesty International’s petition: http://www.protectthehuman.com/petition_actions/10-years-on-end-detentions-at-guantanamo-bay?utm_source=aiuk&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=SWHR&utm_content=Gbaynib
- Sign the following e-petition to the White House asking President Obama to close Guantánamo and make good on the promise he made over three years ago to close it: https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/close-guantanamo-now/6cMPlxQw If more then 25,000 signatures are received by 6 February, a response is guaranteed by the US government

LGC Newsletter – October 2011

NEWS:

Guantánamo Bay:
Since September, the US Congress has been debating a new law, the National Defense Authorization Act 2012, which would allow “terrorism” suspects to be transferred to Guantánamo Bay and tried before military tribunals there and perpetuate the regime of indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay. A clause in it would also legalise “enhanced interrogation techniques”, otherwise known as “torture” in the English language. President Obama, who remains committed to closing Guantánamo, has expressed his opposition to this plan. On 4 October, Senator Harry Reid blocked the bill from being debated by the Senate (equivalent to the British House of Lords) due to the language used in framing these proposals which would keep Guantánamo Bay open indefinitely. Since then, another senator, John McCain has asked President Obama to ignore Senator Reid and push ahead with the law. The president has the right to veto it. On 18 October, the Pentagon’s top lawyer spoke out in favour of closing Guantánamo and against “over-militarizing our approach to al-Qaida and its affiliates.” [Source: Miami Herald]
More on this news and link to Amnesty USA action to block this law:
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/waronterror/act-now-or-gitmo-never-ends/

Although Omar Khadr is eligible to leave Guantánamo Bay on Monday 31 October, his return to his native Canada may take up to 18 months, the usual term for the repatriation of offenders to the country. The Canadian government is unlikely to expedite his case. After pleading guilty to war crimes in a secret plea bargain, in a trial which admitted torture evidence and was the first military trial for crimes allegedly committed as a minor since WWII, Omar Khadr was allowed to serve the last 8 years of his sentence in a Canadian jail. His lawyers have stated that the transfer process has been started.
http://blogs.canada.com/2011/10/28/khadr-transfer-could-take-18-months/

Extraordinary rendition:
On 19 October, the government published its Justice and Security Green Paper, proposing to introduce the use of closed hearings, secret evidence and “special advocates”, lawyers who represent but cannot communicate with their clients, in national security-sensitive cases, essentially to prevent information about the government’s involvement in torture and international criminal activity abroad falling into the public domain. The proposals would also introduce the use of closed inquests in such cases too. This follows, in particular, the Binyam Mohamed case in which the government, following years of denial of awareness of his torture and extraordinary rendition, was forced to admit that it had lied to the courts, parliament and the British public, on the grounds that it would affect intelligence-sharing relations with the US. A potential outcome of this case is that had certain documents not been disclosed, evidence obtained through torture from Binyam Mohamed could have been used as evidence against him. The green paper was announced on 6 July 2010 along with the forthcoming Gibson Inquiry, which also intends to use secret evidence and closed hearings. As well as preventing information about the government’s collusion in torture being disclosed and essentially making any such legal action pointless, it will also strongly undermine the right to a fair trial and a centuries-long tradition of open trials in the United Kingdom. There is also a potential for this to seep into other areas of the law; secret evidence and closed hearings are already used in other national security-sensitive cases, including those tried under laws introduced in the UK post-9/11 and pre-Guantánamo leading to a regime of arbitrary detention without charge or trial at HMP Belmarsh for foreign terrorism suspects, dubbed “Britain’s own Guantánamo”.
For more on this news:
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_10_19_Government_seeks_to_ban_evidence/

A case that is likely to be argued under the same principles as the Binyam Mohamed case, if it is successful, is that brought this month by Libyan extraordinary rendition victim Sami Al-Saadi. In 2004, Al-Saadi, his wife and his four young children were kidnapped in Hong Kong and “rendered” to Libyan where they were detained and tortured. Documents disclosed by Human Rights Watch since the fall of the Gaddafi regime show that Britain was instrumental in their rendition and confirm his claims that he was questioned by UK intelligence officers while held in Libya. Mr Al-Saadi has said that he is bringing the case so that the truth is known and to prevent this happening again.

Prosecutors in Lithuania have decided not to reopen an investigation into possible CIA-run secret torture prisons in the country, in spite of new evidence provided to them by Amnesty International and Reprieve. The investigation was closed in January due to a lack of evidence. A 2009 parliamentary investigation in the country had confirmed the presence of such jails but not that anyone had been held there. The two human rights organisations have provided names of individuals alleged to have been held there. Since then, Guantánamo Bay “high-value” prisoner Abu Zubayda, kidnapped in 2002 and held in secret detention facilities for almost five years, where he was subject to waterboarding, among other forms of torture, is bringing a case against Lithuania at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, over its role in his extraordinary rendition.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_10_28_Lithuania_CIA_prison/

LGC Activities:
A dozen people attended the October Afghan War Anniversary Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration on Friday 7 October. The November demonstration will be held on Friday 4 November at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE and 1.15-2.15pm outside Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park (opposite Marble Arch).With just months to go until Guantánamo marks its first complete decade of torture and arbitrary detention, please join us if you can to show your opposition to its on-going existence
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=188259487917640
The London Guantánamo Campaign also took part in the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign’s very successful action alongside the Stop The War Coalition’s Mass Anti-War Rally on 8 October to mark the tenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, where most Guantánamo detainees were held prisoner before being transferred, including British resident Shaker Aamer. A cage display was held, 100s of signatures were collected on petitions and leaflets were handed out; at one stage, campaigners managed to get Tony Blair, David Cameron and Barack Obama behind bars but they escaped quite quickly…
For pictures and a report of the action: https://london.indymedia.org/articles/10367

Please sign the London Guantánamo Campaign’s e-petition to the US Ambassador to London which we intend to deliver on 11 January 2012 http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/ addressed to the US ambassador to the UK calling for the return of Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha to the UK and the closure of Guantánamo Bay. Please add your name (and comments, if you wish) and ask your friends and family to do as well. Look out for further updates on planned actions.

LGC Newsletter - July 2011

LGC Newsletter – July 2011

NEWS:

Guantánamo Bay:
Former prisoner, Adel Al-Gazzar, who was arrested and detained promptly on his return to his native Egypt last month, has appealed the charges he was convicted of in absentia in 2002 when he was being held at Guantánamo Bay. It is on the basis of these charges and conviction that he is currently being held. He was not aware of the trial at the time. He is seeking a fair trial, however military prosecutors have rejected his appeal and he remains in detention.
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_07_21_Adel_Al_Gazzar_calls_for_re_trial/

Extraordinary rendition:
At the end of June, the US attorney general Eric Holder announced that he would hold criminal investigations into the deaths of two CIA prisoners held in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2002-2003. He also agreed to an investigation into the treatment of prisoners however ruled out any investigations into the deaths of a further 101 prisoners in CIA custody since 2001. The Obama administration has said that it does not intend to prosecute anyone named through the investigations who acted on legal guidance, which authorised the use of waterboarding among other torture techniques, available at the time. The two prisoners whose cases will be investigated are Gul Rahman, who died in a CIA prison in Afghanistan in November 2002 after being chained to a cold cement wall and Manadel Al-Jamadi who died in Abu Ghraib in Iraq in 2003.
More on this news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13984912
Amnesty International UK made the following comment on the US’ failure to investigate its use of torture: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19555

In a new twist on extraordinary rendition, a Somali national appeared before a civilian court in New York in early July on charges of assisting terrorist groups. Pleading not guilty to nine charges, it emerged that Ahmed Abdulkader Warsame, in his mid-20s, was picked up in waters off the Somalia coast on 19 April this year and was held secretly on a US warship and interrogated daily by the CIA for two months before being interrogated again in a manner which could be used as evidence in court by the FBI and then taken to the US and charged. He is alleged not to have been read his legal rights before being questioned. Interrogations are also alleged to have been conducted in line with the Geneva Conventions. This is the first time that a foreign terrorism suspect has been taken to the US; in the past, individuals subject to such interrogations have been taken to Guantánamo Bay. Various politicians in the US have called for him to be tried by a military tribunal at Guantánamo, however a civilian trial is scheduled for early September, just days before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Failing to notice the secret and potentially illegal nature of Mr Warsame’s detention, the media have stated that this arrest, interrogation and forthcoming trial are an indication of how the Obama administration will deal with terrorism suspects. However, the US has been accused of questioning and torturing rendition victims and “ghost prisoners” on board US military ships in the past, in particular around the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned Mr Warsame’s detention and interrogation aboard the warship: http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/u.s.-may-have-violated-domestic-and-international-law-capturing-and-holding-somali-months-sea
His charges can be read at: http://documents.latimes.com/ahmed-warsame-indictment/
More on this news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14041734

On 6 July, one year to the day that David Cameron announced an inquiry would be held into the British intelligence services’ involvement in torture abroad, the terms of reference and protocols on the treatment of information in the inquiry were published. The Detainee, or Gibson, Inquiry, led by retired judge Sir Peter Gibson is due to start its proceedings later this year. Already subject to much criticism of its narrow scope and failure to consider the issue thoroughly, the terms of reference and protocols have also been criticised, concerning how information will be obtained, how and what information will be kept confidential and the scope of the inquiry to include prisoner transfers. NGOs and other critics feel that as stated the inquiry will be powerless and ineffective in dealing with this crucial issue. The inquiry can be followed on its website: http://www.detaineeinquiry.org.uk/

On 13 July, the Supreme Court ruled that the security services (MI5 and MI6) could not rely on secret evidence procedures in court to conceal evidence of involvement in the torture of detainees. In a case brought by several former Guantánamo prisoners, which ended in an out-of-court settlement in November last year, the procedural issue of whether the security services could rely on closed evidence (withheld from the detainees, their lawyers and the public) in the case, in the interest of national security, was referred to the Supreme Court where the judges held that such use would breach the common law standards of a fair trial. However, the judges warned that parliament could in future legislate to allow the use of secret evidence as it has in other sensitive proceedings. The government is currently seeking to table a green paper, which could become law, on the use of intelligence in court proceedings, which could effectively end any disclosure of evidence, such as that related to what the government and its officials and agents know about the use of torture or their own involvement in it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/jul/13/supreme-court-secret-evidence-ban

LGC Activities:
To mark American Independence Day, a special prisoner solidarity demonstration was held instead of the monthly Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration. Around 25 people attended and were joined by activists from other campaigns, including the Justice For Aafia Coalition, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! and the UK Friends of Bradley Manning. For a report on this event: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/07/481978.html
This month’s demonstration will be on Friday 5 August at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE and then 1.15-2.15pm outside Speaker’s Corner (Marble Arch) http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=184595608269352

LGC Newsletter - June 2011

British Residents:
In meetings held between lawyers and others representing Shaker Aamer and US officials during President Obama’s visit to the UK last month, it was revealed that there are now further barriers to his release, as new legislation passed by Congress under the Obama administration requires the Department of Defense to declare that the prisoner will not reoffend if released and Congress must approve the release, making this very difficult henceforth. This was stated by Shaker Aamer’s MP Jane Ellison (Conservative: Battersea) at a parliamentary meeting and screening of Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo on 21 June. The Foreign Office states, however, that it is still seeking Shaker Aamer’s release to the UK and campaigners will continue to seek his release as well.

Guantánamo Bay:
Former prisoner, Adel Al-Gazzar, who was held without charge or trial for almost eight years at Guantánamo, where he lost a leg as a result of torture, and released to Slovakia in 2010, where he was then held at an immigration detention centre for over six months, was promptly arrested on his return to Egypt in early June. Adel Al-Gazzar had left his native Egypt in 2000 to go and do charitable work in Afghanistan, where he was kidnapped and sold for a bounty after 9/11. Having established his innocence but deeming it too unsafe to return him to Egypt, the US negotiated his release to Slovakia along with two other prisoners. Following six months of imprisonment at an immigration detention centre in an experience they claimed was “worse than Guantánamo” and a hunger strike, the three men were released and could finally start their rehabilitation in Slovakia. Following events in Egypt earlier this year and the hope engendered by them, El-Gazzar sought to return home to his family, whom he has not seen in over 11 years. However, shortly after arrival at the airport, he was arrested by security officers and is currently being held at Tora Prison, near Cairo, in relation to charges brought against him in 2002 applicable only under emergency powers, which have not been removed since former President Hosni Mubarak was deposed almost six months ago. Commenting on this latest twist in Al-Gazzar’s unfortunate journey, his lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith wrote the following:
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/06/201161694610955569.html

Five years after their deaths in obscure circumstances, the Center for Constitutional Rights in the USA has filed an appeal in a case on behalf of the families of two prisoners who died at Guantánamo Bay in June 2006. Saudi Yasser Al-Zahrani, 21, and Yemeni Salah Al-Salami, 33, along with another Yemeni national who is not a part of this case, all held without charge or trial since 2002 at Guantánamo, were found dead in their cells in 2006. The USA refused to release the bodies to the families immediately and maintains that the three men committed suicide in an “act of asymmetrical warfare”. Department of Defense investigations have upheld this. The families, however, and prisoners who knew the three men reject this claim; the former have called for an independent investigation into the cause of death. Following a report in Harper’s magazine in January 2010 by Scott Horton, http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368 which also cites Shaker Aamer as a witness to the brutality suffered by the three men before their deaths, a further independent investigation and testimonies from four soldiers present, it appears that the official narrative is false. The new evidence has led to this appeal. The families maintain instead that the men were tortured to death.
http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/al-zahrani-v.-rumsfeld

Demonstrating its commitment to press ahead with military tribunals, the Pentagon appointed a new chief prosecutor for military commissions at Guantánamo Bay, Brigadier General Mark Martins, currently “commander of the Rule of Law Field Force in Afghanistan”, will take up the post from October. Trials he is likely to oversee include those of Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and his four co-defendants, accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks. On the other hand, cases brought in the civilian courts by prisoners, such as prisoner reviews, are currently experiencing high levels of failure, including where they are appeals of cases previously won by prisoners.

Extraordinary rendition:
On 22 June, the All-Party Parliamentary Group released information it had sought through a Freedom of Information application in 2008 concerning prisoners held by British troops and transferred to the US army in Iraq and Afghanistan. These documents include a secret 2008 Memorandum of Understanding between the US and the UK on the handover of prisoners, extracts from a 2008 Detention Practices Review and statistical information on prisoners captured in Afghanistan. These documents, which can be read at http://www.extraordinaryrendition.org/index.php/document-library-mainmenu-27/all-other-documents show failings in the British army’s handling of prisoners and transfers of prisoners to the US military, in spite of knowing of the practices it uses, such as rendition and waterboarding, and at times a lack of accountability procedures to protect prisoners. Last month, following a hearing before the Information Tribunal, the Ministry of Defence was forced to make these documents public. It had previously claimed that disclosure could harm foreign relations and would be costly.
For more on this news:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/23/freedomofinformation-iraq

Lawyers from Reprieve, the human rights NGO, acting on behalf of a Pakistani national held at the Bagram detention facility, who was “rendered” after being arrested and handed over to the US military by British soldiers in Iraq, have brought a habeas corpus case at the High Court in London, seeking that he is either charged or released. Yunus Rahmatullah, 28, was arrested by British soldiers in Iraq in 2004, handed over to the US military who “rendered” him to Bagram in Afghanistan where he has been held ever since. He effectively “disappeared” until 2009 when former government ministers admitted that two men arrested by British forces in Iraq were “rendered” to Afghanistan by the US military. Last year, a detention review board cleared him for release but he remains a prisoner. He was also able to speak to his family on the telephone for the first time last year. The Ministry of Defence had previously refused to confirm his identity. The British government claims that it has no power to seek his release or issue the writ of habeas corpus sought by his lawyers as the matter is one for the US military to decide. However, the transfer to the American military made under a memorandum of understanding allows for requests for transferred prisoners to be returned.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13893181

LGC Activities:
Ten people attended the June Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration. This month’s demonstration is a special Prisoner Solidarity Demonstration in support of prisoners with a UK-US angle, such as individuals facing extradition to the US under the 2003 Extradition Act, Guantánamo prisoners such as Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha and alleged Wikileaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning who is a US-UK citizen. This event is open mic and everyone is welcome to speak, particularly those campaigning on prisoner rights and justice issues which are related. There will be NO monthly demonstration on Friday 1 July. Instead, this one-off demonstration will be on Monday 4 July at 6-8pm outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=220462624638452

The London Guantánamo Campaign and Kingston Peace Council/CND held a joint rally on Sunday 26 June in Trafalgar Square to mark international day in support of victims of torture. Several dozen people joined the rally to raise awareness and show support and a good deal of support was shown by passers-by and the general public enjoying the beautiful weekend weather. Speakers included Andy Worthington, Jean Lambert MEP, Dr Frank Arnold and various torture-related organisations.
Media and reports on the event:

London Guantánamo Campaign report: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/06/public-rally-in-support-of-victims-of.html
With additional pictures: https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/06/481310.html
Press release by Jean Lambert MEP: http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/news_detail.php?id=697
Further Indymedia report: http://london.indymedia.org/articles/9388
Pictures by Dan Viesnik: https://picasaweb.google.com/Aldermaston.Big.Blockade/RallyInSupportOfVictimsOfTorture
Pictures by Mariusz Miejek: http://mariuszsmiejek.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/international-day-in-support-of-victims-of-torture/
Pictures by Richard Wolff: http://www.richardkeithwolff.co.uk/gallery_431793.html
Al-Jazeera article (in Arabic): http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E1A62E5B-7D28-45B6-8D49-505D287705E9.htm?GoogleStatID=9
LGC pictures on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=a.218343874873123.58212.114010671973111

A "Dangerous International Precedent": Demonstrate against the trial of Omar Khadr

SETTING “A DANGEROUS INTERNATIONAL PRECEDENT” : US SET TO GO AHEAD WITH THE FIRST WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL FOR A CHILD COMBATANT SINCE WORLD WAR II

The London Guantánamo Campaign’s monthly demonstration outside the US Embassy in Mayfair will be extended on Friday, 6 August to a two-hour action from 5-7pm to mark the first military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay since President Obama took power and the first time since World War II that a child soldier is being tried for war crimes.Accused of throwing a grenade at US soldiers in Afghanistan in July 2002, killing one soldier and other war crimes, 23-year old Canadian national Omar Khadr is to become the person since Nuremberg to be put on trial for offences alleged committed as a minor. Held at Guantánamo Bay since October 2002, he has been tortured and abused: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQHFFbD_-Pg

At a pre-trial hearing in April, a US interrogator admitted to threatening him with gang rape and murder if he refused to confess. Mr. Khadr has tried to boycott the commission he has described as a “sham” and to fire his legal team. It is unlikely that he will get a fair trial and any “evidence” against him is tenuous at best.

His military commission has been condemned by the United Nations Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflicts, the head of UNICEF, international NGOs and others. Although international law does not expressly prohibit the prosecution of child soldiers, it limits it considerably and does not allow for a life sentence, which Omar Khadr faces. International law views child soldiers as victims and not criminals. With over 300,000 child soldiers estimated in various conflicts worldwide, the precedent that could be set by trial is truly dangerous and could have harmful consequences for the safety of millions of children caught up in armed conflicts.

A letter he recently wrote to his Canadian lawyer Dennis Edney was published in the Washington: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkpoint-washington/2010/07/a_letter_from_omar_khadr_guant.html

Please join us on FRIDAY 6 AUGUST 2010 AT 5-7PM outside the US EMBASSY, GROSVENOR SQUARE, LONDON W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street/Marble)

LGC Newsletter – July 2010

NEWS:
Guantánamo Bay:
Student Mohamed Al-Odaini was the first prisoner to be returned to Yemen this year following an order to repatriate him by the US government after a court ordered his release. He was returned to his family in Yemen on 14 July. The US Department of Defense issued the following press release at the time:
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13708
The US government has maintained its position that it will not be releasing any further Yemeni prisoners in the near future citing security concerns. At a high-level meeting between the US and Yemeni governments earlier this year, the Yemenis pressed for the release and return to the country of all their prisoners still held at Guantánamo Bay. They comprise the single largest nationality of prisoners still held at the prison and over half of them (more than 40 prisoners) have been cleared for release.

In worrying news for British resident Ahmed Belbacha, 35 year old Abdul Aziz Naji, a fellow Algerian prisoner at Guantánamo Bay who had also chosen to remain at the illegal prison rather than return to Algeria where he faces a risk of torture, was forcibly repatriated by the US on 18 July. A Supreme Court ruling the week before (17 July) cleared the way for the return to Algeria of two men, the other being 49 year old Farhi Saeed bin Mohammed, who reportedly lived in the UK and Germany among other countries after fleeing Algeria in the 1990s. Farhi Saeed could also be repatriated at any time. The two men had argued that if returned to Algeria they would face a risk of being abused due to their alleged association with terrorism having been held at Guantánamo. Neither has ever been charged of any crime and both were cleared for release last year. The two are from a group of six Algerian prisoners, including Ahmed Belbacha, who would rather remain at Guantánamo Bay than be returned to Algeria. Mr. Naji had fled persecution in Algeria prior to going to Pakistan. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that this is the first time a prisoner has been involuntarily repatriated by the Obama administration: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/07/19/us-don-t-return-guantanamo-detainees-fearing-ill-treatment
Upon his return to Algeria, his lawyers reported that he had “disappeared”, which the Algerian government denied. On 26 July, the Algerian authorities officially announced he had been indicted (on unspecified charges) and was being held under “judicial supervision”. Previous returnees to Algeria have been held for up to two weeks by the government before being released or later sentenced.
At the same time as Naji’s release, a Syrian prisoner was released to Cape Verde. On 22 July two more prisoners were released to Latvia and Spain. They have not been named. 176 prisoners remain.

Journalist Andy Worthington has updated his definitive list of Guantánamo prisoners, providing information and articles about their cases as well as the latest news about the prisoners over this year. A useful source for research and general interest: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/07/12/guantanamo-the-definitive-prisoner-list-updated-for-summer-2010/

Canadian prisoner Omar Khadr, now 23 but 15 when he was captured, will be the first prisoner to be tried before a military commission next month. Mr. Khadr has slammed it as a “sham process” and tried to fire his American military lawyers in protest. He has now agreed to allow them to represent him. Charges against him include having killed a US soldier with a grenade in Afghanistan when he was 15. The evidence against him is considered to be tenuous at best and most countries, and international legal practice, is against bringing child soldiers to trial; this has not happened since World War II. A defence motion will be made before the commission starts to consider whether or not torture was used to obtain evidence. At a pre-trial hearing earlier in the month when the US tried to offer him a plea deal that would see him released in 5 years if he admitted to killing the soldier and committing other war crimes, Mr. Khadr rejected this plea. At an earlier hearing in this case, an interrogator admitted having threatened Mr. Khadr with gang rape and murder to make him comply and confess during interrogations. Omar Khadr’s trial will be the first of a child soldier since Nuremberg and the first military commission at Guantánamo Bay under the Obama administration.
North of the US border, much legal wrangling has gone on over this month with efforts by Mr. Khadr’s legal team in Canada to have him repatriated to the country, however the Canadian government has consistently blocked such moves. On 5 July, a Federal Court judge gave the Canadian government a week within which to think of alternative methods of remedying a breach of Mr. Khadr’s human rights under the constitution (as ruled in a case earlier this year) or to demand his repatriation. The Canadian government decided on 12 July to appeal this order, claiming that the courts could not provide direction on diplomatic matters. The appeal court judge agreed with the government after a quick hearing on 23 June paving the way for Mr. Khadr’s commission to go ahead. Either through conviction or acquittal at the trial, he still faces the prospect of continued arbitrary detention.

Extraordinary Rendition:
On 6 July, Prime Minister David Cameron made a statement in the House of Commons about the scope and intent of the forthcoming torture inquiry: http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/07/statement-on-detainees-52943 A three-person team led by Intelligence Services Commissioner, former judge Sir Peter Gibson, will oversee the inquiry and decide the terms of it, the scope and what witnesses will be called, etc. The inquiry will focus on the role of the security services and while the prime minister emphasised its independence, he has given himself the final say on what will and will not be made public. The inquiry will have limited powers and effect; for example, the inquiry will not have the power to make witnesses appear before it and no mention has yet been made of any sanctions for complicity in crimes against humanity. On the same day, the government published new guidelines that were made public on how the security services are to operate, particularly with respect to questioning prisoners. However, the old guidance, which was operational during the alleged incidents of involvement in torture and rendition remain secret; this has been criticised by human rights organisations. The government also announced a green paper next year to try to limit the possibility of cases being brought such as the Binyam Mohamed case, which caused great embarrassment to the former Labour government and its diplomatic relations with the US. The prime minister also expressed his hope that the inquiry’s work would be wound up within a year.
There are various hurdles the government will have to overcome first; while the inquiry is welcome, much criticism has already been made of its degree of impartiality, scope and effect. Outstanding court cases, in particular the current case involving six former prisoners need to be settled first. The government is seeking an out-of-court settlement with the men and will offer them compensation. The men have stated that their silence cannot be bought: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1292832/Guantanamo-Bay-torture-victims-say-silence-bought-Cameron.html
In the week following the torture inquiry statement, this case went back to the courts where the disclosure was ordered of some of the documents that had previously been kept secret in the case. With over half a million documents, mainly obtained from MI5 and MI6, and over 60 government lawyers working on them, going through the evidence and the case itself could take years. The government has formally asked the courts to suspend the case to allow the men to hold talks with the government; it is not clear if lawyers for the men will agree to such talks until more is disclosed about what the government knew. The documents disclosed on 14 July, some of which can be read at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/interactive/2010/jul/14/toture-files-key-passages (although heavily redacted), show that the government was well aware of the transfer of prisoners to Guantánamo Bay in 2002 and approved of the detention of British nationals there. The British government backed the move and frustrated attempts at various levels to help British nationals and residents held there. In the case of Martin Mubanga, a British-Zambian national, one of the men involved in the case, who was kidnapped in Zambia before being taken to Guantánamo Bay, the government was fully aware of what was going on and failed to intervene in his case. The disclosed documents, the mere tip of the iceberg, show just how very much involved and approving Tony Blair’s government was of detention at Guantánamo Bay and extraordinary rendition. Senior ministers in Blair’s government denied the statements in these documents for years, claiming not to have any knowledge of what the Americans were doing.
On 20 July, Reprieve director Clive Stafford-Smith wrote to Sir Peter Gibson asking him to step down from leading the torture inquiry in the interest of independence. The letter can be read at:
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/2010_07_20_torture_inquiry_gibson_letter_text
Despite the government’s desire to conclude the inquiry within a year and draw a line under this episode, there are many obstacles the government has to overcome. The London Guantánamo Campaign is in particular concerned about the openness, independence and limited remit of the inquiry. In order to fulfil its stated aims and to do justice to the victims and the wider public, the inquiry must be independent, open and as broad as possible.

On 23 July, The Independent reported that MI5 had been openly involved in the rendition of a Moroccan national from Belgium to the UK where he was held and questioned. This is the first such case of active involvement in rendition. He had been brought to the UK against his will and granted the right to stay under extraordinary circumstances (for questioning) by the Home Secretary and was asked to work for the intelligence services in the UK. More on this news:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uncovered-britains-secret-rendition-programme-2033450.html

LGC Activities:
The August monthly Shut Down Guantánamo! will be on Friday 6 August at 5-7pm. Six people attended the July demonstration. The August demonstration has been extended in protest at the military commission of Omar Khadr which is to start on 10 August – the first trial since Obama became president and the first time a child soldier will be brought to trial for war crimes in over 60 years. It could set a dangerous precedent for the protection of children involved in armed conflict elsewhere.

The LGC launched an urgent action for Ahmed Belbacha on 28 August and urges everyone to write to their MP and the Foreign Secretary to take action to allow Ahmed Belbacha to settle in the UK: http://londonguantnamocampaign.blogspot.com/


London Guantánamo Campaign