MEDIA RELEASE: Campaigners demand Guantánamo closure on tenth anniversary of prison
To coincide with the tenth anniversary of the opening of the illegal detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, activists from the London Guantánamo Campaign [1] will deliver a petition [2] to the US Embassy in London demanding that President Obama fulfil his earlier promises to close Guantánamo Bay and release former British residents, Shaker Aamer [3] and Ahmed Belbacha [4] to the UK. The petition has been signed by around 400 people and will be delivered to the embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, this afternoon.
Aisha Maniar, from the London Guantánamo Campaign, said: “President Obama has chosen to mark the tenth anniversary of Guantánamo, which he once considered a “misguided experiment” [5] by perpetuating the lawless regime of detention there, without charge or trial, through provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 [6]. Once considered part of the disastrous legacy of his predecessor, George Bush, President Obama has made this “experiment” state policy. Similarly, President Clinton before him made extraordinary rendition state policy in the 1990s.
“As the United States gears up for presidential elections later this year, it is hard to forget the dashed hopes of the world in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s complete backtracking on his pledge to close Guantánamo Bay by 2010 and end military tribunals. Instead, hardly any prisoners have been released, a minor has been tried for war crimes and the closure of Guantánamo and other similar facilities is ever more distant.
“Through their collusion, other states, including the United Kingdom, have some responsibility to bear in aiding its closure. In the case of the British government, it must do more to secure the immediate release of Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, formerly resident in the UK.”
Contact: e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com / tel. 07809 757 176
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. The text of the petition, launched in late September 2011, can be read at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
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 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/
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/
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8062615.stm
6. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/02/aclu-others-slam-obama-for-signing-defense-bill-that-includes-detainee/
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
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
Newsletter - December 2011
NEWS:
Guantánamo Bay:
Amnesty International issued a new 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 looking back on ten years of Guantánamo Bay and the impact the regime of illegal detention and abuse has had on the protection of human rights worldwide.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2012), authorising defence spending in the USA for the coming year, became law at the end of December after it was signed by President Obama. After almost ten years of the regime of detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay and other similar prisons around the world, the US government has decided to bring this regime home and legalise indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay and beyond, including the US mainland, through an incredibly broad definition of persons deemed to be at war with the United States and what that covers, including US citizens at home and abroad as well, and privileging military detention for prisoners. Although President Obama signed it with “reservations”, particularly as concerns the detention of US citizens, its broad scope could result in questionable applications by future governments. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) considers it to be unconstitutional and illegal.
For more on this news: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/president-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-bill-law
Extraordinary rendition:
The location of a secret CIA-run prison in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, has been discovered following an investigation by the German media. Former CIA operatives identified the location in a suburb of the city which had previously been used by the Romanian secret services. The prison is alleged to have held victims of extraordinary rendition including Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh. The facility was reported to have been used between 2002 and 2006. The Council of Europe, which has investigated allegations of such prisons in Europe, welcomed the news but it has been denied by the Romanian government and the CIA.
More on this news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16093106
On 14 December, the human rights NGO Reprieve won an important case in the Court of Appeal in which the British government was ordered to seek the release of a man held at Bagram without charge or trial since 2004. Yunus Rahmatullah, a Pakistani national, was arrested by British troops in Iraq in February 2004. He was handed over to the US army which “rendered” him to Bagram, where he has been held ever since and has never been charged. In spite of having the power to do so and complicit in his rendition, the British government has consistently refused to help him, refusing at first even to confirm his identity to his family. He has had sporadic communication with his family via the Red Cross and has only recently been able to communicate with them by telephone. His physical and mental health is reported to have deteriorated considerably during his detention. Reprieve brought a “habeas corpus” petition (that he should be tried or released) at the High Court in London to have the government ordered to seek his release by the US military, which it has the power to do under various agreements with the American government and international law. The court agreed that the government had no duty to Mr Rahmatullah at first but Reprieve won on appeal. The British government had seven days following the judgment to seek his release or appeal against the decision. The government accepted the decision and wrote to the US government seeking his release to British custody so that he can be released. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the UK and the US, Britain can seek Mr Rahmatullah’s release, and that of any prisoner handed over, at any time. The court has given the government until 18 January to secure his release and it remains to be seen whether the American side will comply with its side of the agreement. If the US does not comply, Britain will be in breach of the Geneva Conventions and British officials will be subject to war crimes prosecution.
This ruling by the Court of Appeal is of significance as it is the first time that a civilian court anywhere has been able to secure some form of justice for prisoners at Bagram, whose inmates remain in a far worse condition than prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
For more on Yunus Rahmatullah, this case and the judgment:
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_12_14_Yunus_appeal_judgement/
and: http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_12_21_yunus_return/
LGC Activities:
Four people joined the December Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration on Friday 2 December. Please note that there is NO monthly demonstration in January.
Please join the London Guantánamo Campaign on Saturday 7 January at 2-4pm on the north side of Trafalgar Square (outside the National Gallery) for the “Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame” demonstration organised with the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, the Stop The War Coalition and the Campaign Against Nuclear Disarmament: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/11/shut-guantanamo-end-10-years-of-shame.html
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.
Guantánamo Bay:
Amnesty International issued a new 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 looking back on ten years of Guantánamo Bay and the impact the regime of illegal detention and abuse has had on the protection of human rights worldwide.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2012), authorising defence spending in the USA for the coming year, became law at the end of December after it was signed by President Obama. After almost ten years of the regime of detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay and other similar prisons around the world, the US government has decided to bring this regime home and legalise indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay and beyond, including the US mainland, through an incredibly broad definition of persons deemed to be at war with the United States and what that covers, including US citizens at home and abroad as well, and privileging military detention for prisoners. Although President Obama signed it with “reservations”, particularly as concerns the detention of US citizens, its broad scope could result in questionable applications by future governments. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) considers it to be unconstitutional and illegal.
For more on this news: http://www.aclu.org/national-security/president-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-bill-law
Extraordinary rendition:
The location of a secret CIA-run prison in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, has been discovered following an investigation by the German media. Former CIA operatives identified the location in a suburb of the city which had previously been used by the Romanian secret services. The prison is alleged to have held victims of extraordinary rendition including Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh. The facility was reported to have been used between 2002 and 2006. The Council of Europe, which has investigated allegations of such prisons in Europe, welcomed the news but it has been denied by the Romanian government and the CIA.
More on this news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16093106
On 14 December, the human rights NGO Reprieve won an important case in the Court of Appeal in which the British government was ordered to seek the release of a man held at Bagram without charge or trial since 2004. Yunus Rahmatullah, a Pakistani national, was arrested by British troops in Iraq in February 2004. He was handed over to the US army which “rendered” him to Bagram, where he has been held ever since and has never been charged. In spite of having the power to do so and complicit in his rendition, the British government has consistently refused to help him, refusing at first even to confirm his identity to his family. He has had sporadic communication with his family via the Red Cross and has only recently been able to communicate with them by telephone. His physical and mental health is reported to have deteriorated considerably during his detention. Reprieve brought a “habeas corpus” petition (that he should be tried or released) at the High Court in London to have the government ordered to seek his release by the US military, which it has the power to do under various agreements with the American government and international law. The court agreed that the government had no duty to Mr Rahmatullah at first but Reprieve won on appeal. The British government had seven days following the judgment to seek his release or appeal against the decision. The government accepted the decision and wrote to the US government seeking his release to British custody so that he can be released. Under a memorandum of understanding signed by the UK and the US, Britain can seek Mr Rahmatullah’s release, and that of any prisoner handed over, at any time. The court has given the government until 18 January to secure his release and it remains to be seen whether the American side will comply with its side of the agreement. If the US does not comply, Britain will be in breach of the Geneva Conventions and British officials will be subject to war crimes prosecution.
This ruling by the Court of Appeal is of significance as it is the first time that a civilian court anywhere has been able to secure some form of justice for prisoners at Bagram, whose inmates remain in a far worse condition than prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
For more on Yunus Rahmatullah, this case and the judgment:
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_12_14_Yunus_appeal_judgement/
and: http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_12_21_yunus_return/
LGC Activities:
Four people joined the December Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration on Friday 2 December. Please note that there is NO monthly demonstration in January.
Please join the London Guantánamo Campaign on Saturday 7 January at 2-4pm on the north side of Trafalgar Square (outside the National Gallery) for the “Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame” demonstration organised with the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, the Stop The War Coalition and the Campaign Against Nuclear Disarmament: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/11/shut-guantanamo-end-10-years-of-shame.html
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.
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
LGC Newsletter – November 2011
NEWS:
Guantánamo Bay:
The first military commission under President Obama started on 9 November. Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri, a 46-year old Saudi national, accused of involvement in the 2000 attack on a US warship, the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 sailors and injured 40 others, was arraigned before a tribunal at Guantánamo Bay, where the charges against him were read out. President Obama had, at the beginning of his term as president, suspended the use of military commissions as both the proceedings and the evidence cases are based on are dubious. Indeed, in Al-Nashiri’s case, which could see him subject to the death penalty ten years after he was kidnapped and detained, evidence was obtained through the use of waterboarding. Al-Nashiri is one of three Guantánamo prisoners the CIA admitted to having used this torture method on in 2009. He also spent four years at secret CIA prisons around the world before being taken to Guantánamo; he previously said he had only confessed to the charges due to the torture. Some media, families of the victims and human rights NGO observers were allowed to attend the hearing. The charges read out included murder and terrorism-related offences concerning this attack and two others in 2000 and 2002. Al-Nashiri told the court that he wished to continue being represented by both his military and civilian lawyers and decided not to plead guilty or innocent to the charges until a later date. The judge set a trial date for November 2012, which is likely to fall after the US presidential elections. Mr Al-Nashiri’s trial, the first under Obama’s revamped system, is likely to raise many questions about the treatment of prisoners, the status of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay and other related issues. If convicted, in a trial which is likely to take years, Al-Nashiri faces the death penalty, and if acquitted, under the current rules of the American administration, he could be held perpetually without conviction.
The debate over provisions in the US law concerning military funding for the coming year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which include measures which would legalise “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding, perpetuate the detention of prisoners at Guantánamo and give preference to military tribunals over civilian trials for Guantánamo prisoners and individuals suspected of terrorism offences caught by the US both at home and abroad, has now moved to the Senate (equivalent to the House of Lords). A proposal has been put forward by Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte to favour military tribunals and not subject suspects to criminal procedures before civilian courts, moving the definition of terrorism officially from being a criminal act to being an act of war. The standards of proof and procedure before criminal courts are far higher and fairer. As demonstrated by the Al-Nashiri case above as well, the standards and procedures in current military tribunals are still being tested out. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and 30 other human rights and civil liberties NGOs in the United States sent a letter to the Senate asking senators to oppose the amendments proposed by Congress and to prevent these measures being passed: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/seriously-senate-considering-repeal-anti-torture-measures President Obama has the right to veto the bill, to prevent these measures being passed, and has already threatened to do so.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204753404577064281921470006.html#articleTabs%3Darticle Contrary to his early promises as president, President Obama in his first term as president has backtracked completely on his campaign pledge to close Guantánamo. Instead, over the past few years, his government has acted to legalise and perpetuate the illegal detention of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, in addition to not acting to repeal extraordinary rendition, a 1995 policy introduced by the Bill Clinton government, and has allowed facilities like Bagram to swell to over four times the size they were prior to his presidency and for the US to retain control over prisons it runs in Afghanistan after the handover of control to the Afghan authorities. Ten years on, instead of moving forward on Guantánamo, the American government is moving backwards into a time before law and legality. A recent Miami Herald article claimed Guantánamo Bay was the most expensive prison in the world to run, where the average cost of keeping one prisoner without charge or trial for one year far exceeds the cost of a full undergraduate degree in the United States, where university education is also notoriously expensive. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/08/2493042/guantanamo-bay-the-most-expensive.html
British resident in Guantánamo Bay, Shaker Aamer, has now spent over 10 years in illegal American detention without charge or trial. According to the legal charity Reprieve, Mr Aamer’s physical and mental health is rapidly deteriorating with his prolonged detention. Renewed demands have been made for his release to the British government.
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_11_24_shaker_anniversary/
Extraordinary rendition:
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, has expressed concerns about the transparency and openness of the upcoming Detainee (Gibson) Inquiry. While commending the government for holding an inquiry, he is concerned that the restrictions placed on it will not allow the truth of what the intelligence services have been involved in to come to light.
Amnesty International UK has recently launched a new campaign calling on the government to rethink the structure of the Inquiry. Take action by writing to the Prime Minister at:
http://action.amnesty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1194&ea.campaign.id=12399
LGC Activities:
Eight people joined the November Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration on Friday 4 November. The December demonstration will be held on Friday 2 December 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).Please join us for the last demonstration this year and please note that there is NO monthly demonstration in January. Please watch out for details of our January action shortly instead.
This month’s action: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/215928415146600/
After the November demonstration, some activists took the word down to the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp next to St Paul’s Cathedral. The following is a statement given by the activists about why Guantánamo must close: http://thevoicesfromoccupylondon.tumblr.com/post/12564430048/london-guantanamo-bay-campaign-4-november-2011
Guantánamo Bay:
The first military commission under President Obama started on 9 November. Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri, a 46-year old Saudi national, accused of involvement in the 2000 attack on a US warship, the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 sailors and injured 40 others, was arraigned before a tribunal at Guantánamo Bay, where the charges against him were read out. President Obama had, at the beginning of his term as president, suspended the use of military commissions as both the proceedings and the evidence cases are based on are dubious. Indeed, in Al-Nashiri’s case, which could see him subject to the death penalty ten years after he was kidnapped and detained, evidence was obtained through the use of waterboarding. Al-Nashiri is one of three Guantánamo prisoners the CIA admitted to having used this torture method on in 2009. He also spent four years at secret CIA prisons around the world before being taken to Guantánamo; he previously said he had only confessed to the charges due to the torture. Some media, families of the victims and human rights NGO observers were allowed to attend the hearing. The charges read out included murder and terrorism-related offences concerning this attack and two others in 2000 and 2002. Al-Nashiri told the court that he wished to continue being represented by both his military and civilian lawyers and decided not to plead guilty or innocent to the charges until a later date. The judge set a trial date for November 2012, which is likely to fall after the US presidential elections. Mr Al-Nashiri’s trial, the first under Obama’s revamped system, is likely to raise many questions about the treatment of prisoners, the status of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay and other related issues. If convicted, in a trial which is likely to take years, Al-Nashiri faces the death penalty, and if acquitted, under the current rules of the American administration, he could be held perpetually without conviction.
The debate over provisions in the US law concerning military funding for the coming year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which include measures which would legalise “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding, perpetuate the detention of prisoners at Guantánamo and give preference to military tribunals over civilian trials for Guantánamo prisoners and individuals suspected of terrorism offences caught by the US both at home and abroad, has now moved to the Senate (equivalent to the House of Lords). A proposal has been put forward by Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte to favour military tribunals and not subject suspects to criminal procedures before civilian courts, moving the definition of terrorism officially from being a criminal act to being an act of war. The standards of proof and procedure before criminal courts are far higher and fairer. As demonstrated by the Al-Nashiri case above as well, the standards and procedures in current military tribunals are still being tested out. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and 30 other human rights and civil liberties NGOs in the United States sent a letter to the Senate asking senators to oppose the amendments proposed by Congress and to prevent these measures being passed: http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/seriously-senate-considering-repeal-anti-torture-measures President Obama has the right to veto the bill, to prevent these measures being passed, and has already threatened to do so.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204753404577064281921470006.html#articleTabs%3Darticle Contrary to his early promises as president, President Obama in his first term as president has backtracked completely on his campaign pledge to close Guantánamo. Instead, over the past few years, his government has acted to legalise and perpetuate the illegal detention of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, in addition to not acting to repeal extraordinary rendition, a 1995 policy introduced by the Bill Clinton government, and has allowed facilities like Bagram to swell to over four times the size they were prior to his presidency and for the US to retain control over prisons it runs in Afghanistan after the handover of control to the Afghan authorities. Ten years on, instead of moving forward on Guantánamo, the American government is moving backwards into a time before law and legality. A recent Miami Herald article claimed Guantánamo Bay was the most expensive prison in the world to run, where the average cost of keeping one prisoner without charge or trial for one year far exceeds the cost of a full undergraduate degree in the United States, where university education is also notoriously expensive. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/08/2493042/guantanamo-bay-the-most-expensive.html
British resident in Guantánamo Bay, Shaker Aamer, has now spent over 10 years in illegal American detention without charge or trial. According to the legal charity Reprieve, Mr Aamer’s physical and mental health is rapidly deteriorating with his prolonged detention. Renewed demands have been made for his release to the British government.
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_11_24_shaker_anniversary/
Extraordinary rendition:
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, has expressed concerns about the transparency and openness of the upcoming Detainee (Gibson) Inquiry. While commending the government for holding an inquiry, he is concerned that the restrictions placed on it will not allow the truth of what the intelligence services have been involved in to come to light.
Amnesty International UK has recently launched a new campaign calling on the government to rethink the structure of the Inquiry. Take action by writing to the Prime Minister at:
http://action.amnesty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1194&ea.campaign.id=12399
LGC Activities:
Eight people joined the November Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration on Friday 4 November. The December demonstration will be held on Friday 2 December 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).Please join us for the last demonstration this year and please note that there is NO monthly demonstration in January. Please watch out for details of our January action shortly instead.
This month’s action: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/215928415146600/
After the November demonstration, some activists took the word down to the Occupy London Stock Exchange camp next to St Paul’s Cathedral. The following is a statement given by the activists about why Guantánamo must close: http://thevoicesfromoccupylondon.tumblr.com/post/12564430048/london-guantanamo-bay-campaign-4-november-2011
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.
Monday, October 10, 2011
10 years in Afghanistan: 10 years of torture and arbitrary detention
Afghan War Anniversary
Friday 7th October 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the start of the current NATO-led war in Afghanistan in 2001. As well as leading to the death of thousands of civilians and soldiers, the war in Afghanistan is also the birthplace of one of the lesser known aspects of the so-called "war on terror": the torture and arbitrary detention of thousands of prisoners of all ages and nationalities.
Most of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay had been held at prisons in Afghanistan, such as Bagram and the Salt Pit near Kabul, before being taken to Guantánamo, on the other side of the world, or were taken to Afghanistan as victims of the CIA's kidnap and torture programme, "extraordinary rendition".
Campaigners from the London Guantánamo Campaign and the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign held actions on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th October to mark ten years of this ongoing brutality.
Most of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay had been held at prisons in Afghanistan, such as Bagram and the Salt Pit near Kabul, before being taken to Guantánamo, on the other side of the world, or were taken to Afghanistan as victims of the CIA's kidnap and torture programme, "extraordinary rendition".
Campaigners from the London Guantánamo Campaign and the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign held actions on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th October to mark ten years of this ongoing brutality.
London Guantánamo Campaign Demonstration on 7 October
On the evening of 7th October, around a dozen people gathered outside the US Embassy in Mayfair to stand in solidarity with all victims of torture and prisoners held without charge or trial over the past ten years. This demonstration, part of a monthly action held outside the US Embassy by the London Guantánamo Campaign, was held especially to mark 10 years of arbitrary detention and torture at Bagram and other prisons. In particular, they called for justice for victims and for the American government to return Guantánamo prisoners Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, who have links to the UK, to this country.
On the evening of 7th October, around a dozen people gathered outside the US Embassy in Mayfair to stand in solidarity with all victims of torture and prisoners held without charge or trial over the past ten years. This demonstration, part of a monthly action held outside the US Embassy by the London Guantánamo Campaign, was held especially to mark 10 years of arbitrary detention and torture at Bagram and other prisons. In particular, they called for justice for victims and for the American government to return Guantánamo prisoners Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, who have links to the UK, to this country.
"Ten Hours for Ten Years" and STWC Anti-War Mass Assembly, 8 October, Trafalgar Square
On 8th October, the London Guantánamo Campaign joined the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign for a special "Ten Hours for Ten Years" action to mark ten years of Shaker Aamer's illegal detention in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay as part of the Stop The War Coalition's Anti-War Mass Rally in Trafalgar Square. Shaker Aamer, a 44 year old Saudi national, who has a British wife and four children, including a son he has never met, was abused and tortured at Bagram before being sent to Guantánamo Bay where he has been held without charge or trial for almost the past ten years; he had been working for a Saudi charity in Afghanistan in 2001. He has never faced any charges or trial. Four other British residents whose release was sought at the same time as his by the British government in 2007 have long since returned to the UK. Although the government insists it is doing all it can, it has never explained why it has failed to secure his return to the UK.
Over 5000 people attended the successful anti-war rally, according to the Stop The War Coalition, from all over the UK. Talks were given by politicians, representatives of NGOS, celebrities, journalists and musicians. Speakers included Stop The War President Tony Benn, journalists John Pilger and Lauren Booth, Jemima Khan, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, musicians Lowkey and Brian Eno as well as many others. The names of over 120 people who have died in Afghanistan were read out.
The action for Shaker Aamer, which was eventually reduced to 8 hours (ending at 6pm instead of 8pm) by the powers that be, consisted of volunteers taking turns to stand inside a cage to highlight his plight. Signatures were also collected on a petition to the government calling for his release to the UK. In another cage, protesters donning Bush, Blair and Cameron masks and wearing the notorious Guantánamo orange jumpsuits were finally - temporarily - put behind bars for their crimes against humanity. They were joined for a short while by Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary, and anti-war campaigner Pat Arrowsmith who spoke out against Shaker Aamer's continuing imprisonment without charge or trial. At 3pm, around 20 protesters held up letters spelling "B-R-I-N-G S-H-A-K-E-R A-A-M-E-R H-O-M-E". The stall and the action attracted a lot of interest from demonstrators and passers-by.
At 4pm, the rally concluded with protesters being led down Whitehall to Downing Street by veteran 105-year anti-war campaigner Hetty Bower and former soldier Joe Glenton, who was jailed for refusing to serve in Afghanistan, to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister from military families and soldiers calling for British troops to return home from Afghanistan. Over a thousand people joined this part of the rally. However, protesters were only allowed to go as far as Downing Street and not towards Parliament Square, further down the road, and those who remained outside Downing Street were threatened with arrest under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.
------------------------
A Very Brief History of Torture, Arbitrary Detention, Life and Death at Bagram, Guantánamo and Elsewhere over the Past Decade
Back in 2001/2002, foreigners in Afghanistan were arrested by local warlords who sold them to the American military for a bounty of $5000, a small fortune to its recipients. Many had their personal items and identification stolen. After being tortured and abused in Afghan prisons, most were then sent to another illegal prison at Guantánamo Bay. Conditions in Afghan prisons are reported to be worse, with former British Guantánamo prisoner, Moazzam Begg, describing Bagram as being worse than Guantánamo. Deaths are not uncommon; the 2007 Oscar-winning documentary film Taxi to the Dark Side tells the true story of the savage murder at the hands of US soldiers of an Afghan taxi driver in 2002. Banned torture techniques such as hooding, sleep deprivation, the use of white noise and repetitive music as torture as well as physical and sexual abuse have been reported.
Prisoner conditions have not improved over the past decade; Bagram is very much in the same state Guantánamo Bay was in several years with no exact details of the prisoners held there, although the majority are reported to be Afghan nationals. Prisoners do not have access to medical and legal representation or communication with their families, except through the Red Cross. While prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have described the experience of being held there as "being buried alive", in parts of Bagram, prisoners are quite literally buried alive in tiny cells in underground bunkers. Since Barack Obama became president in 2009, the facility has grown fourfold in size, going from a prisoner capacity of 600 to over 2400. Although the Afghan government is due to assume control of all prisons in Afghanistan from January 2012, the US military has decided to retain control over a prison at Parwan near Bagram, which it is currently expanding and claims it is using it to hold high-value detainees.
Afghanistan has also been a hotspot for secret CIA-run torture jails and a destination for victims of extraordinary rendition. British residents, formerly held at Guantánamo Bay, Binyam Mohamed, who was kidnapped in Pakistan and Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil El-Banna, who were kidnapped in Ghana were all taken to Afghanistan where they were tortured. In spite of pressure from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, the transfer of prisoners will not feature in the forthcoming torture (detainee or Gibson) inquiry set up by the government; the British government was aware that British residents and nationals were being tortured while detained in Afghanistan in 2002.
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary stories to emerge is that of German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, who was kidnapped on holiday in Macedonia in 2003 and taken to Afghanistan where he was detained for several months: http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/4051/prmID/1873
The main feature of this decade-long practice of torture and abuse of prisoners is the complete lack of justice and due legal process. Prisoners are detained and held outside of the recognised confines of the law. Wikileaks earlier this year revealed how random the investigation of prisoners conducted at Guantánamo Bay were, prisoners - 170 of whom are still held without charge or trial - considered to be "bad men" and the "worst of the worst". While all the main political parties in Britain have openly condemned the continuing regime of illegal detention at Guantánamo Bay, for the main part, they continue to support the ongoing war in Afghanistan, in which similar, if not worse, facilities exist as part of the war effort there. Similarly, while Barack Obama talks about closing Guantánamo (he had promised to close it by January 2010 - last year!), money is being pumped into expanding the illegal detention facilities at Bagram and Parwan.
On 8th October, the London Guantánamo Campaign joined the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign for a special "Ten Hours for Ten Years" action to mark ten years of Shaker Aamer's illegal detention in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay as part of the Stop The War Coalition's Anti-War Mass Rally in Trafalgar Square. Shaker Aamer, a 44 year old Saudi national, who has a British wife and four children, including a son he has never met, was abused and tortured at Bagram before being sent to Guantánamo Bay where he has been held without charge or trial for almost the past ten years; he had been working for a Saudi charity in Afghanistan in 2001. He has never faced any charges or trial. Four other British residents whose release was sought at the same time as his by the British government in 2007 have long since returned to the UK. Although the government insists it is doing all it can, it has never explained why it has failed to secure his return to the UK.
Over 5000 people attended the successful anti-war rally, according to the Stop The War Coalition, from all over the UK. Talks were given by politicians, representatives of NGOS, celebrities, journalists and musicians. Speakers included Stop The War President Tony Benn, journalists John Pilger and Lauren Booth, Jemima Khan, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, musicians Lowkey and Brian Eno as well as many others. The names of over 120 people who have died in Afghanistan were read out.
The action for Shaker Aamer, which was eventually reduced to 8 hours (ending at 6pm instead of 8pm) by the powers that be, consisted of volunteers taking turns to stand inside a cage to highlight his plight. Signatures were also collected on a petition to the government calling for his release to the UK. In another cage, protesters donning Bush, Blair and Cameron masks and wearing the notorious Guantánamo orange jumpsuits were finally - temporarily - put behind bars for their crimes against humanity. They were joined for a short while by Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary, and anti-war campaigner Pat Arrowsmith who spoke out against Shaker Aamer's continuing imprisonment without charge or trial. At 3pm, around 20 protesters held up letters spelling "B-R-I-N-G S-H-A-K-E-R A-A-M-E-R H-O-M-E". The stall and the action attracted a lot of interest from demonstrators and passers-by.
At 4pm, the rally concluded with protesters being led down Whitehall to Downing Street by veteran 105-year anti-war campaigner Hetty Bower and former soldier Joe Glenton, who was jailed for refusing to serve in Afghanistan, to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister from military families and soldiers calling for British troops to return home from Afghanistan. Over a thousand people joined this part of the rally. However, protesters were only allowed to go as far as Downing Street and not towards Parliament Square, further down the road, and those who remained outside Downing Street were threatened with arrest under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.
------------------------
A Very Brief History of Torture, Arbitrary Detention, Life and Death at Bagram, Guantánamo and Elsewhere over the Past Decade
Back in 2001/2002, foreigners in Afghanistan were arrested by local warlords who sold them to the American military for a bounty of $5000, a small fortune to its recipients. Many had their personal items and identification stolen. After being tortured and abused in Afghan prisons, most were then sent to another illegal prison at Guantánamo Bay. Conditions in Afghan prisons are reported to be worse, with former British Guantánamo prisoner, Moazzam Begg, describing Bagram as being worse than Guantánamo. Deaths are not uncommon; the 2007 Oscar-winning documentary film Taxi to the Dark Side tells the true story of the savage murder at the hands of US soldiers of an Afghan taxi driver in 2002. Banned torture techniques such as hooding, sleep deprivation, the use of white noise and repetitive music as torture as well as physical and sexual abuse have been reported.
Prisoner conditions have not improved over the past decade; Bagram is very much in the same state Guantánamo Bay was in several years with no exact details of the prisoners held there, although the majority are reported to be Afghan nationals. Prisoners do not have access to medical and legal representation or communication with their families, except through the Red Cross. While prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have described the experience of being held there as "being buried alive", in parts of Bagram, prisoners are quite literally buried alive in tiny cells in underground bunkers. Since Barack Obama became president in 2009, the facility has grown fourfold in size, going from a prisoner capacity of 600 to over 2400. Although the Afghan government is due to assume control of all prisons in Afghanistan from January 2012, the US military has decided to retain control over a prison at Parwan near Bagram, which it is currently expanding and claims it is using it to hold high-value detainees.
Afghanistan has also been a hotspot for secret CIA-run torture jails and a destination for victims of extraordinary rendition. British residents, formerly held at Guantánamo Bay, Binyam Mohamed, who was kidnapped in Pakistan and Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil El-Banna, who were kidnapped in Ghana were all taken to Afghanistan where they were tortured. In spite of pressure from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, the transfer of prisoners will not feature in the forthcoming torture (detainee or Gibson) inquiry set up by the government; the British government was aware that British residents and nationals were being tortured while detained in Afghanistan in 2002.
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary stories to emerge is that of German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, who was kidnapped on holiday in Macedonia in 2003 and taken to Afghanistan where he was detained for several months: http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/4051/prmID/1873
The main feature of this decade-long practice of torture and abuse of prisoners is the complete lack of justice and due legal process. Prisoners are detained and held outside of the recognised confines of the law. Wikileaks earlier this year revealed how random the investigation of prisoners conducted at Guantánamo Bay were, prisoners - 170 of whom are still held without charge or trial - considered to be "bad men" and the "worst of the worst". While all the main political parties in Britain have openly condemned the continuing regime of illegal detention at Guantánamo Bay, for the main part, they continue to support the ongoing war in Afghanistan, in which similar, if not worse, facilities exist as part of the war effort there. Similarly, while Barack Obama talks about closing Guantánamo (he had promised to close it by January 2010 - last year!), money is being pumped into expanding the illegal detention facilities at Bagram and Parwan.
What Can You Do? Get Involved!
The London Guantánamo Campaign will continue to seek the closure of Guantánamo, Bagram and similar prisons elsewhere. We are currently in the process of organising a series of events to mark the tenth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay in January 2012; this will include a candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy on Wednesday 11 January at 6-8pm and a demonstration in central London on the afternoon of Saturday 7 January. Please check us on Facebook or visit our blog: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/ for updates and more details.
We are also collecting signatures on a petition to the American ambassador which we will deliver to the embassy on Guantánamo's 10th birthday on 11 January 2012. Please add your name to the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign will also hold an event outside Downing Street on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, calling for the release of Shaker Aamer. Please check out the website: http://www.saveshaker.org/ for details.
A new documentary film, "YOU DON'T LIKE THE TRUTH - 4 days inside Guantánamo" about Omar Khadr, a Canadian national who has been held and convicted at Guantánamo Bay for war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan when he was 14 (he is now 24), went on general release on Friday 7 October. It is currently playing at the Ritzy in Brixton: The Ritzy - Picture House, Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/
© Pictures and report by Aisha Maniar for the London Guantánamo Campaign
The London Guantánamo Campaign will continue to seek the closure of Guantánamo, Bagram and similar prisons elsewhere. We are currently in the process of organising a series of events to mark the tenth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay in January 2012; this will include a candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy on Wednesday 11 January at 6-8pm and a demonstration in central London on the afternoon of Saturday 7 January. Please check us on Facebook or visit our blog: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/ for updates and more details.
We are also collecting signatures on a petition to the American ambassador which we will deliver to the embassy on Guantánamo's 10th birthday on 11 January 2012. Please add your name to the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign will also hold an event outside Downing Street on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, calling for the release of Shaker Aamer. Please check out the website: http://www.saveshaker.org/ for details.
A new documentary film, "YOU DON'T LIKE THE TRUTH - 4 days inside Guantánamo" about Omar Khadr, a Canadian national who has been held and convicted at Guantánamo Bay for war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan when he was 14 (he is now 24), went on general release on Friday 7 October. It is currently playing at the Ritzy in Brixton: The Ritzy - Picture House, Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/
© Pictures and report by Aisha Maniar for the London Guantánamo Campaign
Friday, September 30, 2011
LGC Newsletter – September 2011
LGC Newsletter – September 2011
NEWS:
British residents:
Shaker Aamer is on hunger strike in protest at conditions at Guantánamo Bay, along with other prisoners, and according to a letter written and signed by him obtained by the BBC, the inhumane treatment of prisoners continues. He describes himself and other prisoners as “hostages” and asked to be released or given a fair trial. The Pentagon has denied that prisoner abuse continues. Although in 2009, when his presidency began, President Obama stated that prisoners would be detained in accordance with the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war, the few prisoners who have since been released have reported that the abuse continues. Force feeding hunger strikers like Shaker Aamer is a violation of their human rights. While maintaining that it is doing all it can, the British government maintains that Shaker Aamer’s release is a matter for the American government. Almost 10 years on, it is not clear why Mr Aamer continues to be detained without ever having faced charges or trial.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14857026
Guantánamo Bay:
The legal NGO Reprieve which represents dozens of Guantánamo prisoners, held a press conference in Tunis on 14 September attended by Tunisian politicians, former prisoners, and lawyers, calling for the release of the remaining 5 Tunisians in Guantánamo Bay. Prior to the Jasmine Revolution, the former Ben Ali regime had been involved in extraordinary rendition and out of the 7 Tunisians who were released, 5 were sent to third countries in Europe instead, due to the threat of further arbitrary detention and torture in Tunisia. Some have been able to return this year. The new Tunisian government has expressed its desire and will to negotiate the return of the remaining 5 prisoners with the American government; it has called on the Obama administration to return its citizens.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/blog/2011_09_23_tunisia_guantanamo_conference/
Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri, a 46-year old Saudi prisoner has been charged by the US Department of Defense with plotting an attack on a US warship in Yemen in 2000 which killed 17 sailors and wounded 40 others. He has also been charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and terrorism. He is also accused by the US of an attack on a French vessel in 2002. Following the charges, his trial, before military commission, must be held within the next 30 days. He potentially faces the death penalty, the first such case under the Obama regime. Al-Nashiri is one of three prisoners the CIA admitted, in 2009, to having waterboarded. He was subject to this form of torture at least several dozen times. At a previous hearing, he said he had only confessed to the charges due to torture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15101631
With American presidential elections due to be held at the end of next year, American Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the Obama administration wants to see Guantánamo Bay closed. He stated that both he and Barack Obama would like to see the illegal detention facility closed down by the elections in November 2012. This was in response to criticism by European Union, which said that it was a “shame” that Guantánamo Bay was still open.
During his first election campaign, President Obama highlighted civil liberties and the closure of Guantánamo Bay among his election pledges. After election, signing a decree to close the facility was one of his first actions in office. He has since backtracked completely and is instead seeking legal avenues to keep Guantánamo Bay open and legitimise the actions of his predecessor, George Bush.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isKdXCM_YZJdsAdfdlm_YDvNuCgQ?docId=CNG.f3113c68bbb87031c65b6d08521fa4f6.e1
The US military has recently stated that it is planning to expand the detention facility at Parwan, near the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, by a capacity of over 2000 extra prisoners. The prison can currently hold 3,500 prisoners. Furthermore, the US will maintain control of it following the 2012 handover date to the Afghan authorities as it is considered to hold high-value prisoners. Since 2009, Bagram has also increased its prisoner numbers fourfold. The vast majority of prisoners held at Guantánamo were first held at and most often tortured in Afghan prisons. Earlier this month, NATO command in Afghanistan suspended the handover of prisoners to Afghan-run prisons following a UN report on widespread torture and abuse of prisoners at such facilities. Last year the British Ministry of Defence was taken to the High Court for its policy of allowing such prisoner transfers, a case which it partially won.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/with-more-space-needed-us-planning-major-expansion-at-detainee-facility-in-afghanistan/2011/09/21/gIQAGD6LlK_blog.html
Extraordinary rendition:
Documents found by the American NGO Human Rights Watch among a stash at the building used by Colonel Gaddafi’s former head of intelligence in Tripoli show that Britain was complicit in the extraordinary rendition in 2004 of the current head of the rebel forces in Tripoli, Abdelhakim Belhaj, from Malaysia to Libya. He was then the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which has since disbanded and had alleged links to Al Qaeda. Britain provided intelligence on Belhaj which led to his kidnap, along with his pregnant wife, in Thailand in early 2004 en route to the UK. Belhaj reports that he was tortured and held at secret CIA prisons during his rendition, with the knowledge of MI6. He is one of the prisoners in whose rendition the US cooperated with the Libyan authorities. The documents found provide firm evidence of this. Britain is also reported to have provided intelligence to the Libyan government on dissidents during its period of rapprochement with the regime in 2004-5, in spite of being fully aware of its use of torture and other human rights abuses. While the Foreign Office initially refused to comment on the issue, claiming it was a matter for the previous government, even though the British intelligence official involved is not an elected official, the Prime Minister later announced that the issue of the Libyan renditions would be added to the scope of the Gibson (Detainee) Inquiry. Belhaj has asked for an apology and may bring legal action against the British government. Last month, nine leading UK human rights NGOs, victims and their lawyers withdrew from participating in this same inquiry due to its lack of transparency, impartiality and effectiveness.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/03/cia-libya-terror-suspect-renditions
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86fdd90a-d65c-11e0-9c1d-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1X0fAC76V
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14786924
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libyan-rebel-leader-says-mi6-knew-he-was-tortured-2349778.html
The documents can be read at:
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2011_Libya_External_Security_Building_Documents.pdf
LGC Activities:
Four people attended the September Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration. The October demonstration, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the current war in Afghanistan, will be a special demonstration on Friday 7 October at 6-7pm outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE, in solidarity with prisoners and torture victims in Afghanistan. Hundreds of victims of extraordinary rendition have been held in Afghanistan and nearly all of the Guantánamo prisoners were held at Bagram or other prisons in Afghanistan before being transferred. Please join us if you can to mark this sombre anniversary.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190285371044962
Media on the September demonstration:
http://www.demotix.com/news/814776/activists-call-closure-detention-camp-guantanamo-bay
The London Guantánamo Campaign is currently in the process of organising actions to mark the 10th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay in January 2012. As part of these actions, we are currently collecting signatures on the following e-petition: 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. A petition delivered to Downing Street on the 9th anniversary, with more than 250 signatures, a short version of which was published in the Guardian, http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-letter-to-prime-minister-david.html received a cut-and-paste response from the Foreign Office two months later: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/03/response-from-fco-to-lgc-letter-of-11.html
NEWS:
British residents:
Shaker Aamer is on hunger strike in protest at conditions at Guantánamo Bay, along with other prisoners, and according to a letter written and signed by him obtained by the BBC, the inhumane treatment of prisoners continues. He describes himself and other prisoners as “hostages” and asked to be released or given a fair trial. The Pentagon has denied that prisoner abuse continues. Although in 2009, when his presidency began, President Obama stated that prisoners would be detained in accordance with the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war, the few prisoners who have since been released have reported that the abuse continues. Force feeding hunger strikers like Shaker Aamer is a violation of their human rights. While maintaining that it is doing all it can, the British government maintains that Shaker Aamer’s release is a matter for the American government. Almost 10 years on, it is not clear why Mr Aamer continues to be detained without ever having faced charges or trial.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14857026
Guantánamo Bay:
The legal NGO Reprieve which represents dozens of Guantánamo prisoners, held a press conference in Tunis on 14 September attended by Tunisian politicians, former prisoners, and lawyers, calling for the release of the remaining 5 Tunisians in Guantánamo Bay. Prior to the Jasmine Revolution, the former Ben Ali regime had been involved in extraordinary rendition and out of the 7 Tunisians who were released, 5 were sent to third countries in Europe instead, due to the threat of further arbitrary detention and torture in Tunisia. Some have been able to return this year. The new Tunisian government has expressed its desire and will to negotiate the return of the remaining 5 prisoners with the American government; it has called on the Obama administration to return its citizens.
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/blog/2011_09_23_tunisia_guantanamo_conference/
Abdul Rahim Al-Nashiri, a 46-year old Saudi prisoner has been charged by the US Department of Defense with plotting an attack on a US warship in Yemen in 2000 which killed 17 sailors and wounded 40 others. He has also been charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy and terrorism. He is also accused by the US of an attack on a French vessel in 2002. Following the charges, his trial, before military commission, must be held within the next 30 days. He potentially faces the death penalty, the first such case under the Obama regime. Al-Nashiri is one of three prisoners the CIA admitted, in 2009, to having waterboarded. He was subject to this form of torture at least several dozen times. At a previous hearing, he said he had only confessed to the charges due to torture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15101631
With American presidential elections due to be held at the end of next year, American Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the Obama administration wants to see Guantánamo Bay closed. He stated that both he and Barack Obama would like to see the illegal detention facility closed down by the elections in November 2012. This was in response to criticism by European Union, which said that it was a “shame” that Guantánamo Bay was still open.
During his first election campaign, President Obama highlighted civil liberties and the closure of Guantánamo Bay among his election pledges. After election, signing a decree to close the facility was one of his first actions in office. He has since backtracked completely and is instead seeking legal avenues to keep Guantánamo Bay open and legitimise the actions of his predecessor, George Bush.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isKdXCM_YZJdsAdfdlm_YDvNuCgQ?docId=CNG.f3113c68bbb87031c65b6d08521fa4f6.e1
The US military has recently stated that it is planning to expand the detention facility at Parwan, near the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, by a capacity of over 2000 extra prisoners. The prison can currently hold 3,500 prisoners. Furthermore, the US will maintain control of it following the 2012 handover date to the Afghan authorities as it is considered to hold high-value prisoners. Since 2009, Bagram has also increased its prisoner numbers fourfold. The vast majority of prisoners held at Guantánamo were first held at and most often tortured in Afghan prisons. Earlier this month, NATO command in Afghanistan suspended the handover of prisoners to Afghan-run prisons following a UN report on widespread torture and abuse of prisoners at such facilities. Last year the British Ministry of Defence was taken to the High Court for its policy of allowing such prisoner transfers, a case which it partially won.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/with-more-space-needed-us-planning-major-expansion-at-detainee-facility-in-afghanistan/2011/09/21/gIQAGD6LlK_blog.html
Extraordinary rendition:
Documents found by the American NGO Human Rights Watch among a stash at the building used by Colonel Gaddafi’s former head of intelligence in Tripoli show that Britain was complicit in the extraordinary rendition in 2004 of the current head of the rebel forces in Tripoli, Abdelhakim Belhaj, from Malaysia to Libya. He was then the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which has since disbanded and had alleged links to Al Qaeda. Britain provided intelligence on Belhaj which led to his kidnap, along with his pregnant wife, in Thailand in early 2004 en route to the UK. Belhaj reports that he was tortured and held at secret CIA prisons during his rendition, with the knowledge of MI6. He is one of the prisoners in whose rendition the US cooperated with the Libyan authorities. The documents found provide firm evidence of this. Britain is also reported to have provided intelligence to the Libyan government on dissidents during its period of rapprochement with the regime in 2004-5, in spite of being fully aware of its use of torture and other human rights abuses. While the Foreign Office initially refused to comment on the issue, claiming it was a matter for the previous government, even though the British intelligence official involved is not an elected official, the Prime Minister later announced that the issue of the Libyan renditions would be added to the scope of the Gibson (Detainee) Inquiry. Belhaj has asked for an apology and may bring legal action against the British government. Last month, nine leading UK human rights NGOs, victims and their lawyers withdrew from participating in this same inquiry due to its lack of transparency, impartiality and effectiveness.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/03/cia-libya-terror-suspect-renditions
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86fdd90a-d65c-11e0-9c1d-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1X0fAC76V
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14786924
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/libyan-rebel-leader-says-mi6-knew-he-was-tortured-2349778.html
The documents can be read at:
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2011_Libya_External_Security_Building_Documents.pdf
LGC Activities:
Four people attended the September Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration. The October demonstration, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the current war in Afghanistan, will be a special demonstration on Friday 7 October at 6-7pm outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE, in solidarity with prisoners and torture victims in Afghanistan. Hundreds of victims of extraordinary rendition have been held in Afghanistan and nearly all of the Guantánamo prisoners were held at Bagram or other prisons in Afghanistan before being transferred. Please join us if you can to mark this sombre anniversary.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190285371044962
Media on the September demonstration:
http://www.demotix.com/news/814776/activists-call-closure-detention-camp-guantanamo-bay
The London Guantánamo Campaign is currently in the process of organising actions to mark the 10th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay in January 2012. As part of these actions, we are currently collecting signatures on the following e-petition: 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. A petition delivered to Downing Street on the 9th anniversary, with more than 250 signatures, a short version of which was published in the Guardian, http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-letter-to-prime-minister-david.html received a cut-and-paste response from the Foreign Office two months later: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/03/response-from-fco-to-lgc-letter-of-11.html
Thursday, September 01, 2011
LGC Newsletter – August 2011
Guantánamo Bay:
24-year old Canadian prisoner, Omar Khadr, the first person to be tried, last year, for war crimes committed as a minor since World War II, has replaced his Canadian legal team. Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling, who represented Khadr pro bono and tirelessly for the past eight years, have been replaced by John Norris and Brydie Bethell. The news came in a letter from Khadr in which he thanked his former legal team for their work and support. Although his former lawyers have not commented, it is feared that Khadr was coerced to sign the typed letter and did not do so freely. Convicted of the murder of a US serviceman in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was aged just 15, he was sentenced to 40 years by a military tribunal but that was reduced through a secret plea bargain. He is due to return to Canada in October this year to serve the rest of his sentence.
Extraordinary rendition:
A habeas corpus case brought by the human rights NGO Reprieve for a Pakistani prisoner who has been held at the prison at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan without charge since at least 2004 has been dismissed by the High Court in London. Yunus Rahmatullah (http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/yunusrahmatullah/) and another man were both captured in Iraq in 2004 by British forces who handed them over to the US military which has held them ever since and consequently “rendered” them to Bagram in Afghanistan. The handover of prisoners who potentially face torture is illegal and consequently the Foreign Office sought to deny knowledge of the men and then refused to disclose their identities. Reprieve sought to rely on habeas corpus – the common law right to know why one is being detained – to pressurise the British government to get the Americans to release Mr Rahmatullah, however the High Court decided that the matter is entirely in the hands of the US and not the concern of the British government. Reprieve intends to appeal this decision.
On 4 August, almost one month after the terms of reference and protocol for the handling of information in the forthcoming Detainee (Gibson) Inquiry into allegations of the involvement of British intelligence services in torture abroad, a coalition of 10 human rights NGOs and lawyers representing victims wrote to the Inquiry informing it of their withdrawal as they cannot cooperate with its stated terms, which are also in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the absolute ban on torture. Other criticisms lie in the limited scope of the inquiry, its use of secrecy and limited use of evidence, the limited ability to call witnesses and question key individuals, the lack of transparency and the limited role given to the very victims whose allegations of torture and abuse over the past few years led to the inquiry being called. As proposed, the Inquiry will be ineffective with little purpose, serving as little more than a waste of public funds and time without addressing key issues and possible failings that both victims and the public, whose taxes have funded this alleged involvement in torture, have a right to know. The Inquiry has responded and both the panel leading it and the government have urged all parties concerned to reconsider and has stated that the Inquiry will be held nonetheless.
For more on this news: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/08/human-rights-ngos-victims-and-their.html
In a separate criminal inquiry into possible abuse of a prisoner by an MI6 agent, referred to the police by the agency, British police are seeking to interview prisoners at Guantánamo Bay concerning the possible involvement of this agent in the abuse of a non-British prisoner. The police cannot question any prisoners unless they are given permission to do so by the American government. Once this investigation is complete, the Detainee Inquiry can start its proceedings.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hzuraIXiI9z446Va4mVeHkjjyTOA?docId=38d4dd3621f94cc9becc0e64dca80192
While the Coalition government wishes to use the Detainee Inquiry to draw a line under allegations made relating to the previous Labour government, allegations have continued to emerge since last year’s election. At the time of the general election last year, allegations emerged of a British man being tortured in a Bangladeshi prison with the knowledge of the UK security services. In August, proceedings were started at the High Court in London in a claim brought by a Kenyan man who claims he was kidnapped in Kenya last summer and “rendered” to Uganda, where he was held illegally, interrogated and tortured by individuals who claimed to be from the FBI and one from British intelligence. The agent is alleged to have taken part in the abuse of Omar Awadh Omar, 37, who was beaten during questioning.
More on this news: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/17/torture-suspect-claims-abuse?INTCMP=SRCH
An American appeals court has given leave to two American security contractors to sue Donald Rumsfeld, whom they allege permitted policies which allowed them to be tortured while working in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. The two men, Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, were detained by their own army and subject to abuses including sleep deprivation, denied food, water and warmth and threatened with beatings at Camp Cropper, after trying to blow the whistle on the illegal activities of the company they were working for. They were both held for several months and never charged. Rumsfeld had pleaded immunity; however, this was rejected by the court, as the men had provided enough evidence to show that he had personally effected the policies allowing their abuse. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14453895
Following a case in a New York court between 2007 and 2011, concerning a private company accused of facilitating torture flights as part of the US’s extraordinary rendition programme, Reprieve has released a series of over 1500 documents which were a part of the case and which disclose a considerable amount of information for the first time about the business of extraordinary rendition. For the first time, some of the companies involved are identified as well as information about the “rendition” of particular victims. Details of flights and stopovers at airports all over the world, including Glasgow, Edinburgh and London Luton airports are provided as well as the revelation that a jet owned by Liverpool FC owner Philip Morse was used for over 55 “torture” flights passing and stopping off in various locations in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas (Guantánamo Bay). In between these flights, the jet was used to transport a baseball team to its matches in the US. As the documents name companies and their senior management and executives, it is possible that these documents will be used to bring prosecutions by victims against them.
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_08_31_rendition_documents/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/31/us-firms-torture-flights-rendition?intcmp=239
LGC Activities:
Five people attended the August Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration. The September demonstration will be on Friday 2 September 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=131470260278724
Media on the August demonstration:
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/95F88C3C-869C-4723-8827-9CB0300BB84E.htm
(In Arabic, pictures from the demonstration)
http://www.demotix.com/news/777668/future-orange-protest-against-guantanamo-us-embassy-london
http://www.demotix.com/news/777922/london-guant-namo-campaign-protests-outside-us-embassy
If you have not yet added your name to the open letter to President Obama about Shaker Aamer, please do: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/03/sign-our-open-letter-to-president-obama.html
24-year old Canadian prisoner, Omar Khadr, the first person to be tried, last year, for war crimes committed as a minor since World War II, has replaced his Canadian legal team. Dennis Edney and Nathan Whitling, who represented Khadr pro bono and tirelessly for the past eight years, have been replaced by John Norris and Brydie Bethell. The news came in a letter from Khadr in which he thanked his former legal team for their work and support. Although his former lawyers have not commented, it is feared that Khadr was coerced to sign the typed letter and did not do so freely. Convicted of the murder of a US serviceman in Afghanistan in 2002, when he was aged just 15, he was sentenced to 40 years by a military tribunal but that was reduced through a secret plea bargain. He is due to return to Canada in October this year to serve the rest of his sentence.
Extraordinary rendition:
A habeas corpus case brought by the human rights NGO Reprieve for a Pakistani prisoner who has been held at the prison at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan without charge since at least 2004 has been dismissed by the High Court in London. Yunus Rahmatullah (http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/yunusrahmatullah/) and another man were both captured in Iraq in 2004 by British forces who handed them over to the US military which has held them ever since and consequently “rendered” them to Bagram in Afghanistan. The handover of prisoners who potentially face torture is illegal and consequently the Foreign Office sought to deny knowledge of the men and then refused to disclose their identities. Reprieve sought to rely on habeas corpus – the common law right to know why one is being detained – to pressurise the British government to get the Americans to release Mr Rahmatullah, however the High Court decided that the matter is entirely in the hands of the US and not the concern of the British government. Reprieve intends to appeal this decision.
On 4 August, almost one month after the terms of reference and protocol for the handling of information in the forthcoming Detainee (Gibson) Inquiry into allegations of the involvement of British intelligence services in torture abroad, a coalition of 10 human rights NGOs and lawyers representing victims wrote to the Inquiry informing it of their withdrawal as they cannot cooperate with its stated terms, which are also in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the absolute ban on torture. Other criticisms lie in the limited scope of the inquiry, its use of secrecy and limited use of evidence, the limited ability to call witnesses and question key individuals, the lack of transparency and the limited role given to the very victims whose allegations of torture and abuse over the past few years led to the inquiry being called. As proposed, the Inquiry will be ineffective with little purpose, serving as little more than a waste of public funds and time without addressing key issues and possible failings that both victims and the public, whose taxes have funded this alleged involvement in torture, have a right to know. The Inquiry has responded and both the panel leading it and the government have urged all parties concerned to reconsider and has stated that the Inquiry will be held nonetheless.
For more on this news: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/08/human-rights-ngos-victims-and-their.html
In a separate criminal inquiry into possible abuse of a prisoner by an MI6 agent, referred to the police by the agency, British police are seeking to interview prisoners at Guantánamo Bay concerning the possible involvement of this agent in the abuse of a non-British prisoner. The police cannot question any prisoners unless they are given permission to do so by the American government. Once this investigation is complete, the Detainee Inquiry can start its proceedings.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hzuraIXiI9z446Va4mVeHkjjyTOA?docId=38d4dd3621f94cc9becc0e64dca80192
While the Coalition government wishes to use the Detainee Inquiry to draw a line under allegations made relating to the previous Labour government, allegations have continued to emerge since last year’s election. At the time of the general election last year, allegations emerged of a British man being tortured in a Bangladeshi prison with the knowledge of the UK security services. In August, proceedings were started at the High Court in London in a claim brought by a Kenyan man who claims he was kidnapped in Kenya last summer and “rendered” to Uganda, where he was held illegally, interrogated and tortured by individuals who claimed to be from the FBI and one from British intelligence. The agent is alleged to have taken part in the abuse of Omar Awadh Omar, 37, who was beaten during questioning.
More on this news: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/17/torture-suspect-claims-abuse?INTCMP=SRCH
An American appeals court has given leave to two American security contractors to sue Donald Rumsfeld, whom they allege permitted policies which allowed them to be tortured while working in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. The two men, Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, were detained by their own army and subject to abuses including sleep deprivation, denied food, water and warmth and threatened with beatings at Camp Cropper, after trying to blow the whistle on the illegal activities of the company they were working for. They were both held for several months and never charged. Rumsfeld had pleaded immunity; however, this was rejected by the court, as the men had provided enough evidence to show that he had personally effected the policies allowing their abuse. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14453895
Following a case in a New York court between 2007 and 2011, concerning a private company accused of facilitating torture flights as part of the US’s extraordinary rendition programme, Reprieve has released a series of over 1500 documents which were a part of the case and which disclose a considerable amount of information for the first time about the business of extraordinary rendition. For the first time, some of the companies involved are identified as well as information about the “rendition” of particular victims. Details of flights and stopovers at airports all over the world, including Glasgow, Edinburgh and London Luton airports are provided as well as the revelation that a jet owned by Liverpool FC owner Philip Morse was used for over 55 “torture” flights passing and stopping off in various locations in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas (Guantánamo Bay). In between these flights, the jet was used to transport a baseball team to its matches in the US. As the documents name companies and their senior management and executives, it is possible that these documents will be used to bring prosecutions by victims against them.
http://reprieve.org.uk/press/2011_08_31_rendition_documents/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/31/us-firms-torture-flights-rendition?intcmp=239
LGC Activities:
Five people attended the August Shut Down Guantánamo! demonstration. The September demonstration will be on Friday 2 September 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=131470260278724
Media on the August demonstration:
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/95F88C3C-869C-4723-8827-9CB0300BB84E.htm
(In Arabic, pictures from the demonstration)
http://www.demotix.com/news/777668/future-orange-protest-against-guantanamo-us-embassy-london
http://www.demotix.com/news/777922/london-guant-namo-campaign-protests-outside-us-embassy
If you have not yet added your name to the open letter to President Obama about Shaker Aamer, please do: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/2011/03/sign-our-open-letter-to-president-obama.html
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