13th February 2012 – for immediate release
The London Guantánamo Campaign [1] and the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign [2] note with dismay that tomorrow, Tuesday 14th February 2012, marks the tenth anniversary of the illegal detention at Guantánamo Bay without charge or trial of Shaker Aamer [3], a 45-year old Saudi national with a British family in London. He is the last British resident whose return from the illegal detention centre was sought by the government in August 2007.
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign will mark this date with a “Guantánamo Chain Gang” display of activists in orange jumpsuits and black hoods shackled to one another outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, at 2pm and the delivery of a petition to the Embassy itself. This action is supported by the London Guantánamo Campaign.
The London Guantánamo Campaign further regrets that Thursday 9th February marked the tenth anniversary of illegal detention without charge or trial of another British resident, Ahmed Belbacha [4], whose return to this country has not been requested by the government.
Campaigners from both organisations will demand answers from the British and American governments as to why Mr Aamer has yet to be released even though he has never been charged or tried, and was cleared for release in 2007, and will demand his immediate release to his family in London. The American government must furthermore release all the other prisoners to safety and ensure fair trials for those who have been charged.
Aisha Maniar, from the London Guantánamo Campaign, said: "This situation is a ten-year nightmare for both Shaker Aamer and his family. Ten years without charge, trial and justice are indefensible and incomprehensible. Not only should Shaker Aamer be released immediately but both the British and American governments must explain why this is taking so long".
Joy Hurcombe, from the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, said: “The Government must act immediately to demand the release and return of Shaker Aamer to the UK. He is just a family man who longs to be with his family. His treatment is barbaric - ten years of torture and abuse must end now. David Cameron could just get on the phone and demand Shaker's return.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.saveshaker.org/
3. Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. He claims to have been tortured repeatedly during his time in US custody, on one occasion in the presence of a British intelligence agent. He has a British wife and four children living in Battersea, south London. He has never met his youngest son, who is 10 years old. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought his release in August 2007, along with four other residents held at Guantánamo Bay, the last of whom was released in February 2009. His lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, has recently expressed grave concerns for his physical and mental health due to prolonged arbitrary detention. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer/
4. Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001, was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Never charged or tried, he was free to leave but has remained at Guantánamo Bay for want of a safe third country to return to. A court injunction in the USA has prevented his forced return to Algeria. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha/
Showing posts with label tenth anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tenth anniversary. Show all posts
Monday, February 13, 2012
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
MEDIA RELEASE: Campaigners to mark Five Years of anti-Guantánamo protest with vigil outside US Embassy, 3rd February
MEDIA RELEASE: Campaigners to mark Five Years of anti-Guantánamo protest with vigil outside US Embassy
1st February 2012 - for immediate release
The London Guantánamo Campaign [1] will hold a candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy in London on Friday 3 February at 6-8pm to mark the fifth anniversary of the campaign’s regular “Shut Down Guantánamo!” [2] demonstrations outside the embassy. Campaigners will be joined by Actors for Human Rights [3] performing from The Rendition Monologues [4] and actor and poet Sergio Amigo reading poems by Guantánamo prisoners.
Aisha Maniar, from the London Guantánamo Campaign, said: “We started this action five years ago to serve the United States government with a regular reminder on the doorstep of its embassy here in London that the whole world will not turn a blind eye to the regime of torture, arbitrary detention and lawlessness it has set up at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere.
“Five years into our action and ten years after Guantánamo Bay opened its doors, the US government has clearly demonstrated that it has no intention of closing Guantánamo Bay any time soon or ending the regime it symbolises. Nonetheless, we remain resolved to see Guantánamo Bay shut down and justice for the prisoners, including the return of British residents Shaker Aamer [5] and Ahmed Belbacha [6] to this country. We call on residents and visitors to the capital who share our belief in and love for freedom and justice to join us. We will continue to maintain our regular presence outside the US Embassy until our demands are met.”
Contact: e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com
2. Since February 2007, the London Guantánamo Campaign has held a regular protest outside the US Embassy in London, first on a weekly basis, until August 2008 and on a monthly basis since then. The protest calls for the return of British resident held at Guantánamo Bay to the UK, the closure of Guantánamo Bay and other similar prisons, such as Bagram in Afghanistan, and justice for the remaining prisoners, of whom there are currently 171. Over that period, this has included special actions held 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.
3. www.iceandfire.co.uk
4. http://iceandfire.co.uk/outreach/scripts/rendition-monologues
5. Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. He claims to have been tortured repeatedly during his time in US custody, on one occasion in the presence of a British intelligence agent. He has a British wife and four children living in Battersea, south London. He has never met his youngest son, who is almost 10 years old. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought his release in August 2007, along with four other residents held at Guantánamo Bay, the last of whom was released in February 2009. His lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, has recently expressed grave concerns for his physical and mental health due to prolonged arbitrary detention. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer/
6. Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001, was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Never charged or tried, he was free to leave but has remained at Guantánamo Bay for want of a safe third country to return to. A court injunction in the USA has prevented his forced return to Algeria. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha/
1st February 2012 - for immediate release
The London Guantánamo Campaign [1] will hold a candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy in London on Friday 3 February at 6-8pm to mark the fifth anniversary of the campaign’s regular “Shut Down Guantánamo!” [2] demonstrations outside the embassy. Campaigners will be joined by Actors for Human Rights [3] performing from The Rendition Monologues [4] and actor and poet Sergio Amigo reading poems by Guantánamo prisoners.
Aisha Maniar, from the London Guantánamo Campaign, said: “We started this action five years ago to serve the United States government with a regular reminder on the doorstep of its embassy here in London that the whole world will not turn a blind eye to the regime of torture, arbitrary detention and lawlessness it has set up at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere.
“Five years into our action and ten years after Guantánamo Bay opened its doors, the US government has clearly demonstrated that it has no intention of closing Guantánamo Bay any time soon or ending the regime it symbolises. Nonetheless, we remain resolved to see Guantánamo Bay shut down and justice for the prisoners, including the return of British residents Shaker Aamer [5] and Ahmed Belbacha [6] to this country. We call on residents and visitors to the capital who share our belief in and love for freedom and justice to join us. We will continue to maintain our regular presence outside the US Embassy until our demands are met.”
Contact: e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com
2. Since February 2007, the London Guantánamo Campaign has held a regular protest outside the US Embassy in London, first on a weekly basis, until August 2008 and on a monthly basis since then. The protest calls for the return of British resident held at Guantánamo Bay to the UK, the closure of Guantánamo Bay and other similar prisons, such as Bagram in Afghanistan, and justice for the remaining prisoners, of whom there are currently 171. Over that period, this has included special actions held 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.
3. www.iceandfire.co.uk
4. http://iceandfire.co.uk/outreach/scripts/rendition-monologues
5. Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. He claims to have been tortured repeatedly during his time in US custody, on one occasion in the presence of a British intelligence agent. He has a British wife and four children living in Battersea, south London. He has never met his youngest son, who is almost 10 years old. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought his release in August 2007, along with four other residents held at Guantánamo Bay, the last of whom was released in February 2009. His lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, has recently expressed grave concerns for his physical and mental health due to prolonged arbitrary detention. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer/
6. Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001, was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Never charged or tried, he was free to leave but has remained at Guantánamo Bay for want of a safe third country to return to. A court injunction in the USA has prevented his forced return to Algeria. http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha/
Monday, January 30, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, January 27, 2012
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
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
Monday, January 09, 2012
“Shut Guantánamo - End Ten Years of Shame” – Public Rally, London, 7 January 2012, Report
“Shut Guantánamo - End Ten Years of Shame” – Public Rally, London, 7 January 2012, Report
By Aisha Maniar, London Guantánamo Campaign
Protest Rally in London:
On Saturday 7 January, the weekend before the tenth anniversary of the opening of the illegal prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, over 200 people from London and other parts of the UK converged outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square to mark this unfortunate day in history and to stand in solidarity with the 171 prisoners who remain there. Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign (LGC), the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC), the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the rally started with journalist Victoria Brittain reading a couple of poems written by former detainees on their experiences at the prison and their feelings on the injustice they have faced.
Leading human rights solicitor Louise Christian, who represented several of the British men who have been held there, expressed her shock that there are still 171 prisoners a decade on. She described the moment when her clients were reunited with their families as one of the most moving experiences in her legal career. Ms Christian criticised the British government’s failure to reunite British resident Shaker Aamer with his family in south London. She said that this situation cannot go on; it sends a signal to the world that the US and the UK governments do not care. It is a “shame on us all” that Guantánamo is still open and we need to do everything we can to get it closed.
London MEPs Baroness Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat) and Jean Lambert (Green) provided political support to the campaigners. Ms Ludford described the failure to close Guantánamo “a complete disgrace” and a “disappointment”. She said that it was disappointing that there was still no full truth over European collusion in extraordinary rendition and torture; this involvement undermines the European Union principles of democracy, human rights and respect for the rule of law. She called for accountability as a necessary first step to “cleaning the stables before we can say “never again” as Europe has done in its past history”. Ms Ludford and Ms Lambert asserted their commitment to continue pushing this issue at the European level to seek accountability for European involvement and have member states accept prisoners. The two MEPs will jointly co-host a meeting at the European Parliament later this month to revisit and update work on European accountability in this matter. Ms Lambert also mentioned the “dangerous proposals” currently being put forth in a government green paper on justice and security by the Home Office which would effectively allow provisions for the use of secret evidence to be rolled out in all civil cases and prevent the cases for disclosure in collusion brought by former Guantánamo prisoners. A statement was also read out on behalf of Green MP Caroline Lucas, who was unable to attend (statement below).
Both MEPs expressed their solidarity with the family of Shaker Aamer and called on the government to take immediate action over his case to bring him back to his family in London. Other speakers, including Kate Hudson from the CND, Aaron Kiely from the National Union of Students (NUS), Steve Bell from the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Other speakers included Lindsey German from the StWC, Joy Hurcombe from the SSAC and Shaun Brown from the LGC. Criticism was also made of the Obama administration’s recent approval of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2012, with Steve Bell describing it as “extending the Guantánamo principle to US citizens”, Jean Lambert called it a “rewriting of international law” and Shaun Brown said it “made indefinite detention lawful”.
Cortney Busch from the human rights NGO Reprieve said that the NDAA meant that prisoners may never have the chance to go home to their families. She described being held for ten years without charge or trial in arbitrary conditions as tantamount to torture. She urged the public to keep putting the pressure on governments and to write to the prisoners to keep their spirits up. Lighter entertainment was provider by poet Pete The Temp.
Halfway through the speeches, the LGC organised a visual display to represent the 171 prisoners still held at the prison. Volunteers played the role of prisoners: dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, they held up placards with the prisoners’ numbers on them and stepped forward as the names behind the numbers were read out. This part of the action was both visually stunning and a poignant reminder of the very real people caught up in this tragedy.
Ten years on with no prospect of closure in sight, the campaign to close Guantánamo is not over either. In spite of the setback posed by recent legal changes in the United States, the almost impossibility for prisoners to leave the prison alive at present and the insistence on secrecy by governments the world over in their collusion, there have also been positive revelations over the past year, such as the court case in the United States revealing corporate involvement in torture flights, including by a company owned by Liverpool FC co-owner Philip Morse (http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_08_31_rendition_documents/) and revelations by Human Rights Watch about British collusion with the US in rendition to Libya (http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/08/usuk-documents-reveal-libya-rendition-details), among others. The fight for justice must and will go on. It is clear that over the past ten years, politicians across the world have largely failed to provide more than verbal assurances and condemnation. With a similar action held in Canada on the same date and actions ongoing in the United States and more planned for this coming week all over the world, it is up to ordinary people to say enough is enough.
Actions you can take:
- To mark the tenth anniversary, on Wednesday 11 January, the LGC will deliver a petition to the US Embassy in London calling for the return of Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha to the UK and the closure of Guantánamo. There are still two more days for you to add your name (and comment) to the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
- Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion) has tabled a new early day motion (EDM) on Guantánamo Bay to coincide with the tenth anniversary. Please ask your MP to sign the motion to register their disapproval of Guantánamo Bay – this week, it’s also a good way of reminding them of this anniversary: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2558
- Sign Amnesty International’s global petition to President Obama: 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
Guantánamo: Ten Years On:
The notorious illegal prison camp and potent symbol of injustice that is Guantánamo Bay hits ten on Wednesday 11 January 2012. Opened in 2002 to hold prisoners captured in Afghanistan, the regime at Guantánamo Bay has somehow managed consistently to avoid falling within established norms and practices of international law, such as complying with the Geneva Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture and even the United States constitution.
In spite of widespread international condemnation – even Tony Blair called it an “anomaly” and a European commissioner recently called the failure to close it a “shame” – this has not translated into the closure of the facility or the safe release of prisoners; a decade on, 171 prisoners remain, most held for this entire period without charge or trial.
President Obama was once among those critics dubbing it a “misguided experiment”; a promise to close Guantánamo Bay and bring the US back into line with international law featured prominently in his presidential election campaign in 2008. Having won the presidency, one of his first pledges was signed to close Guantánamo by January 2010. That clearly did not happen and during his first term as president, Barack Obama has completely reneged on all the promises he made with his administration reinstating military tribunals, preventing prisoner transfers (hardly any prisoners have been released over the past three years) and most recently, he marked Guantánamo’s first decade by signing the National Defense Authorization Act 2012, a defence spending bill with provisions to perpetuate the regime of detention without charge and trial and keep Guantánamo open for many years to come, as well as the possibility of new inmates. In addition to this, in Obama’s first term, Bagram prison in Afghanistan, where most of the prisoners were first held and abused before being taken to Guantánamo over ten years ago, has quadrupled in size.
Guantánamo at ten:
Amnesty International Report: “Guantánamo: A Decade of Damage to Human Rights”: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/103/2011/en/43fe877f-92c6-44b8-ad3e-4840db5d0852/amr511032011en.pdf
Human Rights Watch: “Guantánamo Ten Years On”: http://www.hrw.org/topic/counterterrorism/guantanamo-ten-years
British residents in Guantánamo Bay:
The British government maintains that it has done more than its European counterparts by ensuring the safe release and return to the UK of over a dozen British nationals and residents over the past decade. Nonetheless, and despite official denial otherwise, the government was aware of the treatment of British prisoners at Bagram and their transfer to Guantánamo before it even happened. Two men with ties to Britain remain at Guantánamo Bay: Shaker Aamer, a 46-year old Saudi national who lived with his British wife and children in London. Although the government called for his return five years ago, it is unclear why he remains at Guantánamo after so long, having never been charged or tried. http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer
The LGC also maintains that the British government should seek the return to the UK of former British resident Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001. He was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Mr Belbacha fears for his life if forcibly returned to Algeria (an injunction currently prevents this), and remains at Guantánamo awaiting the offer of a safe home.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha
Statement by Caroline Lucas MP: I am sorry that I cannot be with you today to mark the 10 shameful years that Shaker Aamer has been detained – unlawfully – in Guantanamo Bay.
His incarceration and that of others – present and past – remains a stain on the US’s reputation and is a grievous abuse of precious human rights.
We know from recent reports that Shaker’s health is deteriorating and that he is ‘gradually dying in Guantanamo Bay’. For Shaker to die in the illegal custody of the United States would be an unspeakable travesty. We must not let this happen.
It would also seriously affect our country’s reputation of standing up for its citizens abroad. That’s why I have repeatedly called on the Foreign Secretary to increase efforts to secure Shaker’s release – and to close down Guantanamo. William Hague has told me that he pressed Shaker’s case with Hillary Clinton most recently on December 12th and that UK and US officials hold regular discussions on Mr Aamer's case, both in London and from the British embassy in Washington. But every single day that passes is a day too long as far as Shaker’s family and friends are concerned – as the 10th anniversary of his detention approaches we must convince the Government to act with even greater urgency.
The Foreign Secretary also says that Shaker’s release remains a matter for the US authorities. That is true enough. But let’s not forget that so called special relationship Britain is meant to enjoy with the US. And let’s remember Barak Obama’s promise to the world that he would make the closure of Guantanamo Bay a priority – his pledge to do the right thing. The UK has a responsibility to make sure Shaker is not forgotten and to hold the US fully to account for its treatment of UK residents and citizens – and that is very much a matter for the UK authorities.
The Green Party wants to applaud the Save Shaker Aamer campaign, the London Guantanamo Campaign and others for their tireless efforts to keep this case in the public eye and on the political agenda. Please be assured of our ongoing support and commitment to bringing Shaker home and to making sure that others do not suffer the same fate in future.
Thank you.
By Aisha Maniar, London Guantánamo Campaign
Protest Rally in London:
On Saturday 7 January, the weekend before the tenth anniversary of the opening of the illegal prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, over 200 people from London and other parts of the UK converged outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square to mark this unfortunate day in history and to stand in solidarity with the 171 prisoners who remain there. Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign (LGC), the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC), the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the rally started with journalist Victoria Brittain reading a couple of poems written by former detainees on their experiences at the prison and their feelings on the injustice they have faced.
Leading human rights solicitor Louise Christian, who represented several of the British men who have been held there, expressed her shock that there are still 171 prisoners a decade on. She described the moment when her clients were reunited with their families as one of the most moving experiences in her legal career. Ms Christian criticised the British government’s failure to reunite British resident Shaker Aamer with his family in south London. She said that this situation cannot go on; it sends a signal to the world that the US and the UK governments do not care. It is a “shame on us all” that Guantánamo is still open and we need to do everything we can to get it closed.
London MEPs Baroness Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat) and Jean Lambert (Green) provided political support to the campaigners. Ms Ludford described the failure to close Guantánamo “a complete disgrace” and a “disappointment”. She said that it was disappointing that there was still no full truth over European collusion in extraordinary rendition and torture; this involvement undermines the European Union principles of democracy, human rights and respect for the rule of law. She called for accountability as a necessary first step to “cleaning the stables before we can say “never again” as Europe has done in its past history”. Ms Ludford and Ms Lambert asserted their commitment to continue pushing this issue at the European level to seek accountability for European involvement and have member states accept prisoners. The two MEPs will jointly co-host a meeting at the European Parliament later this month to revisit and update work on European accountability in this matter. Ms Lambert also mentioned the “dangerous proposals” currently being put forth in a government green paper on justice and security by the Home Office which would effectively allow provisions for the use of secret evidence to be rolled out in all civil cases and prevent the cases for disclosure in collusion brought by former Guantánamo prisoners. A statement was also read out on behalf of Green MP Caroline Lucas, who was unable to attend (statement below).
Both MEPs expressed their solidarity with the family of Shaker Aamer and called on the government to take immediate action over his case to bring him back to his family in London. Other speakers, including Kate Hudson from the CND, Aaron Kiely from the National Union of Students (NUS), Steve Bell from the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Other speakers included Lindsey German from the StWC, Joy Hurcombe from the SSAC and Shaun Brown from the LGC. Criticism was also made of the Obama administration’s recent approval of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2012, with Steve Bell describing it as “extending the Guantánamo principle to US citizens”, Jean Lambert called it a “rewriting of international law” and Shaun Brown said it “made indefinite detention lawful”.
Cortney Busch from the human rights NGO Reprieve said that the NDAA meant that prisoners may never have the chance to go home to their families. She described being held for ten years without charge or trial in arbitrary conditions as tantamount to torture. She urged the public to keep putting the pressure on governments and to write to the prisoners to keep their spirits up. Lighter entertainment was provider by poet Pete The Temp.
Halfway through the speeches, the LGC organised a visual display to represent the 171 prisoners still held at the prison. Volunteers played the role of prisoners: dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, they held up placards with the prisoners’ numbers on them and stepped forward as the names behind the numbers were read out. This part of the action was both visually stunning and a poignant reminder of the very real people caught up in this tragedy.
Ten years on with no prospect of closure in sight, the campaign to close Guantánamo is not over either. In spite of the setback posed by recent legal changes in the United States, the almost impossibility for prisoners to leave the prison alive at present and the insistence on secrecy by governments the world over in their collusion, there have also been positive revelations over the past year, such as the court case in the United States revealing corporate involvement in torture flights, including by a company owned by Liverpool FC co-owner Philip Morse (http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_08_31_rendition_documents/) and revelations by Human Rights Watch about British collusion with the US in rendition to Libya (http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/08/usuk-documents-reveal-libya-rendition-details), among others. The fight for justice must and will go on. It is clear that over the past ten years, politicians across the world have largely failed to provide more than verbal assurances and condemnation. With a similar action held in Canada on the same date and actions ongoing in the United States and more planned for this coming week all over the world, it is up to ordinary people to say enough is enough.
Actions you can take:
- To mark the tenth anniversary, on Wednesday 11 January, the LGC will deliver a petition to the US Embassy in London calling for the return of Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha to the UK and the closure of Guantánamo. There are still two more days for you to add your name (and comment) to the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
- Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion) has tabled a new early day motion (EDM) on Guantánamo Bay to coincide with the tenth anniversary. Please ask your MP to sign the motion to register their disapproval of Guantánamo Bay – this week, it’s also a good way of reminding them of this anniversary: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2558
- Sign Amnesty International’s global petition to President Obama: 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
Guantánamo: Ten Years On:
The notorious illegal prison camp and potent symbol of injustice that is Guantánamo Bay hits ten on Wednesday 11 January 2012. Opened in 2002 to hold prisoners captured in Afghanistan, the regime at Guantánamo Bay has somehow managed consistently to avoid falling within established norms and practices of international law, such as complying with the Geneva Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture and even the United States constitution.
In spite of widespread international condemnation – even Tony Blair called it an “anomaly” and a European commissioner recently called the failure to close it a “shame” – this has not translated into the closure of the facility or the safe release of prisoners; a decade on, 171 prisoners remain, most held for this entire period without charge or trial.
President Obama was once among those critics dubbing it a “misguided experiment”; a promise to close Guantánamo Bay and bring the US back into line with international law featured prominently in his presidential election campaign in 2008. Having won the presidency, one of his first pledges was signed to close Guantánamo by January 2010. That clearly did not happen and during his first term as president, Barack Obama has completely reneged on all the promises he made with his administration reinstating military tribunals, preventing prisoner transfers (hardly any prisoners have been released over the past three years) and most recently, he marked Guantánamo’s first decade by signing the National Defense Authorization Act 2012, a defence spending bill with provisions to perpetuate the regime of detention without charge and trial and keep Guantánamo open for many years to come, as well as the possibility of new inmates. In addition to this, in Obama’s first term, Bagram prison in Afghanistan, where most of the prisoners were first held and abused before being taken to Guantánamo over ten years ago, has quadrupled in size.
Guantánamo at ten:
Amnesty International Report: “Guantánamo: A Decade of Damage to Human Rights”: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/103/2011/en/43fe877f-92c6-44b8-ad3e-4840db5d0852/amr511032011en.pdf
Human Rights Watch: “Guantánamo Ten Years On”: http://www.hrw.org/topic/counterterrorism/guantanamo-ten-years
British residents in Guantánamo Bay:
The British government maintains that it has done more than its European counterparts by ensuring the safe release and return to the UK of over a dozen British nationals and residents over the past decade. Nonetheless, and despite official denial otherwise, the government was aware of the treatment of British prisoners at Bagram and their transfer to Guantánamo before it even happened. Two men with ties to Britain remain at Guantánamo Bay: Shaker Aamer, a 46-year old Saudi national who lived with his British wife and children in London. Although the government called for his return five years ago, it is unclear why he remains at Guantánamo after so long, having never been charged or tried. http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer
The LGC also maintains that the British government should seek the return to the UK of former British resident Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001. He was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Mr Belbacha fears for his life if forcibly returned to Algeria (an injunction currently prevents this), and remains at Guantánamo awaiting the offer of a safe home.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha
Statement by Caroline Lucas MP: I am sorry that I cannot be with you today to mark the 10 shameful years that Shaker Aamer has been detained – unlawfully – in Guantanamo Bay.
His incarceration and that of others – present and past – remains a stain on the US’s reputation and is a grievous abuse of precious human rights.
We know from recent reports that Shaker’s health is deteriorating and that he is ‘gradually dying in Guantanamo Bay’. For Shaker to die in the illegal custody of the United States would be an unspeakable travesty. We must not let this happen.
It would also seriously affect our country’s reputation of standing up for its citizens abroad. That’s why I have repeatedly called on the Foreign Secretary to increase efforts to secure Shaker’s release – and to close down Guantanamo. William Hague has told me that he pressed Shaker’s case with Hillary Clinton most recently on December 12th and that UK and US officials hold regular discussions on Mr Aamer's case, both in London and from the British embassy in Washington. But every single day that passes is a day too long as far as Shaker’s family and friends are concerned – as the 10th anniversary of his detention approaches we must convince the Government to act with even greater urgency.
The Foreign Secretary also says that Shaker’s release remains a matter for the US authorities. That is true enough. But let’s not forget that so called special relationship Britain is meant to enjoy with the US. And let’s remember Barak Obama’s promise to the world that he would make the closure of Guantanamo Bay a priority – his pledge to do the right thing. The UK has a responsibility to make sure Shaker is not forgotten and to hold the US fully to account for its treatment of UK residents and citizens – and that is very much a matter for the UK authorities.
The Green Party wants to applaud the Save Shaker Aamer campaign, the London Guantanamo Campaign and others for their tireless efforts to keep this case in the public eye and on the political agenda. Please be assured of our ongoing support and commitment to bringing Shaker home and to making sure that others do not suffer the same fate in future.
Thank you.
Report with pictures:
https://london.indymedia.org/articles/11414
More pictures: http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-Guant%C3%A1namo-Campaign/114010671973111#!/media/set/?set=a.315424181831758.77173.114010671973111&type=1
Media on the action:
Press:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/113922
http://presstv.com/usdetail/219874.html
TV:
http://news.itnsource.com/
Photo-journalism:
http://www.demotix.com/news/994185/speakers-10th-anniversary-london-guantanamo-campaign-rally
http://www.demotix.com/news/994274/shackles-and-protest-london-guantanamo-rally-10-years
http://www.demotix.com/news/993946/10th-anniversary-guantanamo-bay-protest-london
http://www.demotix.com/news/994029/campaigners-mark-10th-anniversary-guantanamo-london
http://www.demotix.com/news/994182/london-demonstration-marks-10th-anniversary-guantanamo-bay
http://brentgreens.blogspot.com/2012/01/public-rally-ten-years-of-guantanamo.html
Also, picture in Daily Mail article on Afghanistan: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083702/American-military-accused-abusing-Afghan-detainees-comparison-Guantanamo-Bay-holdings.html
London Guantánamo Campaign
Also at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-Guant%C3%A1namo-Campaign/114010671973111
http://twitter.com/shutguantanamo
Press:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/113922
http://presstv.com/usdetail/219874.html
TV:
http://news.itnsource.com/
Photo-journalism:
http://www.demotix.com/news/994185/speakers-10th-anniversary-london-guantanamo-campaign-rally
http://www.demotix.com/news/994274/shackles-and-protest-london-guantanamo-rally-10-years
http://www.demotix.com/news/993946/10th-anniversary-guantanamo-bay-protest-london
http://www.demotix.com/news/994029/campaigners-mark-10th-anniversary-guantanamo-london
http://www.demotix.com/news/994182/london-demonstration-marks-10th-anniversary-guantanamo-bay
http://brentgreens.blogspot.com/2012/01/public-rally-ten-years-of-guantanamo.html
Also, picture in Daily Mail article on Afghanistan: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083702/American-military-accused-abusing-Afghan-detainees-comparison-Guantanamo-Bay-holdings.html
London Guantánamo Campaign
Also at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-Guant%C3%A1namo-Campaign/114010671973111
http://twitter.com/shutguantanamo
Thursday, January 05, 2012
MEDIA RELEASE: Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame - Public Rally, Saturday 7 January, 2-4pm, Trafalgar Square
MEDIA RELEASE: Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame - Public Rally, Saturday 7 January, 2-4pm, Trafalgar Square
Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame
6 January 2012 - For immediate release
Photo opportunity: At around 3pm, activists dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods will perform a visual display representing the 171 prisoners who remain at Guantánamo.
This Saturday, 7 January, the weekend before the tenth anniversary of the opening of the illegal US military prison camp at Guantánamo Bay on 11 January 2002, a public rally is to be held at Trafalgar Square (North Terrace, outside the National Gallery), organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign (LGC), Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC), Stop the War Coalition (StWC) and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) [1].
Speakers will include Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP (Lib Dem), Louise Christian (solicitor), Lindsey German (StWC), Kate Hudson (CND) and Victoria Brittain (journalist) [2].
Aisha Maniar, from the LGC, said:
“Ten years of Guantánamo Bay are ten years of wasted opportunities to close down this notorious symbol of lawlessness and injustice in our time.
“President Obama has completed his U-turn on earlier pledges to close Guantánamo and end the discredited military commissions with his recent signing into law of the National Defense Authorization Act, perpetuating the regime of arbitrary detention without charge or trial.
“The United States and its allies must share responsibility for the closure of Guantánamo Bay: the UK government must step up its efforts to secure the return of British resident Shaker Aamer [3] and also offer a safe home to former British resident Ahmed Belbacha [4]. Other European Union states must also step up their efforts to help close Guantánamo Bay and take concrete action to put an end to this “shame”[5].
“We will nonetheless keep up the pressure on governments to take firm action and to seek justice for the prisoners held at Guantánamo.”
Contact:
E-mail: london.gtmo@gmail.com
Tel: 07809 757 176
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR
1. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition.
http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/
Save Shaker Aamer Campaign: http://saveshaker.org/
Stop the War Coalition: http://stopwar.org.uk/
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament: http://cnduk.org/
2. Full list of confirmed speakers: Baroness Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat MEP), Louise Christian (solicitor), Cortney Busch (Reprieve), Lindsey German (StWC), Kate Hudson (CND), Victoria Brittain (journalist), Joy Hurcombe (SSAC), Shaun Brown (LGC), Kanja Sesay (National Union of Students), Steve Bell (Communication Workers Union), Pete the Temp (poet).
3. Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the US military in 2007, and by Obama’s administration in 2009. He claims to have been tortured repeatedly during his time in US custody, on one occasion in the presence of a British intelligence agent. He has a British wife and four children living in Battersea, south London. He has never met his youngest son, who is almost 10 years old. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought Mr Aamer’s release in August 2007, along with four other British residents then held at Guantánamo Bay , the last of whom, Binyam Mohamed, was released in February 2009. Mr Aamer’s lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, has recently expressed grave concerns for his physical and mental health.
http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer
4. Ahmed Belbacha is an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001. He was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Mr Belbacha fears for his life if forcibly returned to Algeria (an injunction currently prevents this), and remains at Guantánamo awaiting the offer of a safe home.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha
5. On 9 September 2010 , Cecilia Malmstroem, the European Union’s home affairs commissioner, called the US government’s failure to close Guantánamo Bay “a shame”. http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/us-attacks-911.c3f/
Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame
6 January 2012 - For immediate release
Photo opportunity: At around 3pm, activists dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods will perform a visual display representing the 171 prisoners who remain at Guantánamo.
This Saturday, 7 January, the weekend before the tenth anniversary of the opening of the illegal US military prison camp at Guantánamo Bay on 11 January 2002, a public rally is to be held at Trafalgar Square (North Terrace, outside the National Gallery), organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign (LGC), Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC), Stop the War Coalition (StWC) and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) [1].
Speakers will include Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP (Lib Dem), Louise Christian (solicitor), Lindsey German (StWC), Kate Hudson (CND) and Victoria Brittain (journalist) [2].
Aisha Maniar, from the LGC, said:
“Ten years of Guantánamo Bay are ten years of wasted opportunities to close down this notorious symbol of lawlessness and injustice in our time.
“President Obama has completed his U-turn on earlier pledges to close Guantánamo and end the discredited military commissions with his recent signing into law of the National Defense Authorization Act, perpetuating the regime of arbitrary detention without charge or trial.
“The United States and its allies must share responsibility for the closure of Guantánamo Bay: the UK government must step up its efforts to secure the return of British resident Shaker Aamer [3] and also offer a safe home to former British resident Ahmed Belbacha [4]. Other European Union states must also step up their efforts to help close Guantánamo Bay and take concrete action to put an end to this “shame”[5].
“We will nonetheless keep up the pressure on governments to take firm action and to seek justice for the prisoners held at Guantánamo.”
Contact:
E-mail: london.gtmo@gmail.com
Tel: 07809 757 176
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR
1. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition.
http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/
Save Shaker Aamer Campaign: http://saveshaker.org/
Stop the War Coalition: http://stopwar.org.uk/
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament: http://cnduk.org/
2. Full list of confirmed speakers: Baroness Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat MEP), Louise Christian (solicitor), Cortney Busch (Reprieve), Lindsey German (StWC), Kate Hudson (CND), Victoria Brittain (journalist), Joy Hurcombe (SSAC), Shaun Brown (LGC), Kanja Sesay (National Union of Students), Steve Bell (Communication Workers Union), Pete the Temp (poet).
3. Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the US military in 2007, and by Obama’s administration in 2009. He claims to have been tortured repeatedly during his time in US custody, on one occasion in the presence of a British intelligence agent. He has a British wife and four children living in Battersea, south London. He has never met his youngest son, who is almost 10 years old. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought Mr Aamer’s release in August 2007, along with four other British residents then held at Guantánamo Bay , the last of whom, Binyam Mohamed, was released in February 2009. Mr Aamer’s lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, has recently expressed grave concerns for his physical and mental health.
http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer
4. Ahmed Belbacha is an Algerian national who lived in Bournemouth from 1999 to 2001. He was cleared for release by the US military in 2007. Mr Belbacha fears for his life if forcibly returned to Algeria (an injunction currently prevents this), and remains at Guantánamo awaiting the offer of a safe home.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/ahmedbelbacha
5. On 9 September 2010 , Cecilia Malmstroem, the European Union’s home affairs commissioner, called the US government’s failure to close Guantánamo Bay “a shame”. http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/us-attacks-911.c3f/
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Shut Guantánamo - End 10 Years of Shame
Shut Guantánamo - End 10 Years of ShamePublic Rally
Trafalgar Square - top of steps, outside National Gallery,
2-4pm, Saturday 7 January 2012
Called by London Guantánamo Campaign, Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, CND
11 January 2012 marks ten years of torture, abuse and arbitrary detention at Guantánamo Bay - one of the world's most notorious symbols of injustice.
The illegal US military prison has held more than 800 prisoners - most of them released without charge or trial. 171 prisoners remain, without prospect of release.
Over a dozen British nationals and residents have been illegally imprisoned at Guantánamo. Two remain: Shaker Aamer, a UK resident with a British family in south London, including a son he has never met; and Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national from Bournemouth. Both men were cleared for release in 2007.
President Obama promised to close Guantánamo but has not. Now prisoners may be held indefinitely without evidence. The vast majority have never faced any charges.
Kidnapping and imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial, denying them their freedom and human rights, gratuitously denigrating and abusing them physically and mentally: ALL OF THIS MUST END.
Speakers include: Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP (Lib Dem), Louise Christian (solicitor), Lindsey German (STWC), Kate Hudson (CND), Joy Hurcombe (Save Shaker Aamer Campaign), Cortney Busch (Reprieve), Victoria Brittain (journalist), Kanja Sesay (NUS), Steve Bell (CWU), Pete The Temp (Poet) and others
- Join our rally on 7 January 2012 to say:
Shut Guantánamo - End 10 Years of Shame
- Sign London Guantánamo Campaign's petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
For more details: london.gtmo@gmail.com or call 07809 757 176
http://www.facebook.com/events/252203821501996/
Called by London Guantánamo Campaign, Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, CND
11 January 2012 marks ten years of torture, abuse and arbitrary detention at Guantánamo Bay - one of the world's most notorious symbols of injustice.
The illegal US military prison has held more than 800 prisoners - most of them released without charge or trial. 171 prisoners remain, without prospect of release.
Over a dozen British nationals and residents have been illegally imprisoned at Guantánamo. Two remain: Shaker Aamer, a UK resident with a British family in south London, including a son he has never met; and Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national from Bournemouth. Both men were cleared for release in 2007.
President Obama promised to close Guantánamo but has not. Now prisoners may be held indefinitely without evidence. The vast majority have never faced any charges.
Kidnapping and imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial, denying them their freedom and human rights, gratuitously denigrating and abusing them physically and mentally: ALL OF THIS MUST END.
Speakers include: Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP (Lib Dem), Louise Christian (solicitor), Lindsey German (STWC), Kate Hudson (CND), Joy Hurcombe (Save Shaker Aamer Campaign), Cortney Busch (Reprieve), Victoria Brittain (journalist), Kanja Sesay (NUS), Steve Bell (CWU), Pete The Temp (Poet) and others
- Join our rally on 7 January 2012 to say:
Shut Guantánamo - End 10 Years of Shame
- Sign London Guantánamo Campaign's petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
For more details: london.gtmo@gmail.com or call 07809 757 176
http://www.facebook.com/events/252203821501996/
As part of this action, we are looking for volunteers - you! - to help out with a visual stunt to remind the world of the 170 prisoners still held in Guantánamo Bay. If you are happy to be a "prisoner" and wear an orange jumpsuit (hood optional) for about half an hour, we'd like to hear from you. We need as many volunteers as we can get for this (male and female of all ages and sizes). We also need one male "voice artist", with a loud authoritarian voice and one clear female "voice artist" who can pronounce the prisoners' names (mainly Arabic/Persian names) properly. We will also require several volunteers to choregraph the action on the day. This action will be filmed. If you'd like to know more and take part, please get in touch with the LGC (details above).
------
Write to:
o Prime Minister David Cameron, 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AH
o Foreign Secretary William Hague, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH
o President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC, USA
o Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 2201 C Street NW, Washington DC 20301, USA
Sunday, October 30, 2011
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)