Since President Obama made his now broken pledge to close Guantánamo Bay 13 months ago, only a few dozen prisoners have been released. 198 remain in a wholly precarious situation after eight years of illegal detention without charge or trial. Last year, the US administration said that around 80 prisoners could leave; some were accepted by their countries and others were accommodated by other countries, including a handful that came to EU countries, such as Belgium, Ireland, France and Hungary. The others who remain are effectively stateless refugees. Until and unless all the prisoners are released and sent to countries where their safety is guaranteed, Guantánamo Bay will not close. The recent move to block the return of prisoners to Yemen has not helped the situation at all, nor have ongoing attempts to relocate Guantánamo Bay to Illinois
LGC Press Release: London Guantánamo Campaign to hold demonstration on eighth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay – Monday 11 January, 12.30pm, outside US Embassy, London
The illegal prison camp at Guantánamo Bay opened 8 years ago on 11 January 2002 Over 200 prisoners remain, locked up indefinitely… President Obama has conceded that his pledge to close Guantánamo Bay by January 2010 is unlikely, perpetuating its lawless existence Join us as we demonstrate to mark the eighth anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo Bay and call on the American administration to keep its promise to shut it down Time: Monday 11 January 2010, 12.30-2pm Where: Outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street) Speakers include: Ed Davey MP, Jean Lambert MEP, Andy Worthington, Yvonne Ridley, Joy Hurcombe (Brighton Against Guantanamo), John Clossick (Save Shaker Aamer Campaign), Reprieve, Stop The War Coalition, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism and others
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For more details, please call 07809 757 176 or email: Also on Facebook:
The illegal prison camp at Guantánamo Bay opened 8 years ago on 11 January 2002 Over 200 prisoners remain, locked up indefinitely…
President Obama has conceded that his pledge to close Guantánamo Bay by January 2010 is unlikely, perpetuating its lawless existence
Join us as we demonstrate to mark the eighth anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo Bay and call on the American administration to keep its promise to shut it down Time: Monday 11 January 2010, 12.30-2pm Where: Outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street) Speakers include: Ed Davey MP, Andy Worthington, Yvonne Ridley, Bruce Kent, Reprieve and others For more details, please call 07809 757 176 or email:
Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign www.guantanamo.org.uk
The London Guantánamo Campaign and Cageprisoners held a public meeting on Saturday 11 July in Battersea to raise awareness about Shaker Aamer, the last London resident being held in Guantánamo Bay. Shaker Aamer, a 42 year old Saudi national, with a British family, including a 7 year old son he has never met, is one of two remaining British residents held at Guantánamo Bay. The other is Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian asylum seeker from Bournemouth. Neither man has ever been charged or tried, nor are there any plans to bring them before a military or civilian court.
The British government sought the return of Mr. Aamer in August 2007 along with four other residents, all of whom have since returned to the UK. The British government now claims that assurances sought by the American government as to his treatment – restrictions on his freedom of movement, etc. – are hindering his return. This was the same pretext for the government’s delay in securing the return of the other British residents; however, they and the British nationals held prisoner there have never been charged or tried in this country. In Mr. Belbacha’s case, the government is refusing to allow him to return, claiming he is a failed asylum seeker. He has been free to leave Guantánamo Bay for the past two and a half years but does not have anywhere to return to; an asylum seeker in the UK, he has stated that he would rather remain in Guantánamo Bay than return to Algeria where his life would be at risk.
The meeting was chaired by the London Guantánamo Campaign and attended by nearly one hundred people, including half a dozen former Guantánamo prisoners and the family of Shaker Aamer. The audience was addressed by speakers including local MP Martin Linton (Lab, Battersea). Mr. Linton stated that he would like to see Mr. Aamer return to the UK. He also stated that when the seventh anniversary of Guantánamo Bay was marked at the beginning of this year, he had thought that Mr. Aamer would be released by now, however six months into his presidency and his pledge to close Guantánamo Bay down within one year, it does not appear that President Obama wants Shaker Aamer to return here. A review panel is due to decide shortly on where to send Mr. Aamer: either to the UK or Saudi Arabia. The alternative options to the UK are bleak: a two year “re-education” programme in Saudi Arabia tantamount to another prison sentence without charge or trial or charges at Guantánamo Bay and a “trial” by military commission. Mr. Aamer’s release is taking longer than he had anticipated and is perpetuating the human tragedy: Shaker Aamer has a seven year old son he has never met and his oldest child remembers him only from photographs. For no legal or apparent reason, a family has been split and torn apart for the past almost eight years. Mr. Linton called on local people to take action, to write to him about their concerns and for others to write to their own MPs to raise the issue with the Foreign Secretary; the more pressure put on the Foreign Office, the more they will in turn pressurise the American administration. Mr. Linton suggested that a deputation of local Battersea residents should meet the Foreign Secretary to voice their concerns and their demands for Mr. Aamer’s return. Following the meeting, work was commenced on putting this deputation together. Mr. Ray Silk, a local resident, agreed to coordinate local groups and individuals who would be interested in doing this. The deputation hopes to meet David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, before this parliamentary session end in two weeks’ time.
Cageprisoners director and former Guantánamo prisoner Moazzam Begg, who lived with Shaker Aamer in Kabul before the war in Afghanistan when they were both charity workers there, spoke of him as a smiling, caring and unforgettable person who was very well-known in the south London area. While Mr. Begg, who was released in early 2005, was one of the first prisoners put forward for trial by military commission, Shaker Aamer has never been tried or charged at all. Mr. Begg stated that he is being held due to his charismatic personality; guards have been instructed not to fraternise with him and he has been held in solitary confinement for far longer periods than other prisoners. Recently released Chadian child prisoner Mohamed El-Gharani reported that Shaker Aamer had taken him under his wing and looked after him while imprisoned together. From within, Shaker Aamer has protested against the injustices at Guantánamo Bay, including the fact that despite being the rationale for its existence, not a single prisoner has ever been convicted of any crime in relation to the 9/11 attacks. The hunger strikes, which Mr. Aamer has participated in, have been the last straw for the prisoners protesting their innocence. The UK has officially called for Mr. Aamer’s release; there is a real need for change on both sides of the Atlantic, a change which is tangible. Mr. Begg called for those responsible and those who colluded in what has happened at Guantánamo Bay to be brought to account. While President Obama has called for a new page to be turned, the current page must be read before being turned over.
Gareth Peirce, solicitor, whose firm represents Mr. Aamer, called his situation an “emergency”: parliament and the courts will close in a fortnight for a two month break, meaning that little progress will be made in his case until October unless the government takes action now. While the US wants Shaker Aamer to be returned to Saudi Arabia where he will have to undergo a lengthy “re-education” programme, the UK is also complicit in his ordeal and morally, our role has been worse. The British government has sought to keep its complicity secret and provided information about the British nationals and residents to the US. The UK must demand that Shaker Aamer comes back immediately and this will only happen when there is sufficient pressure. Mr. Aamer would have returned by now if enough pressure had been put on the US, however due to the UK’s complicity, including the involvement of UK agents in his torture during interrogations, there is no interest in pursuing this. Ms. Peirce’s firm has brought a case against the British government for reparations on behalf of most of the British residents and nationals for its complicity in torture. The purpose of the case is not to seek compensation but to serve as a measure to prevent this happening again to others. The government was due to enter its defence in this case on Friday but failed to; instead it asked for more time. The government is also seeking to keep evidence, which may potentially incriminate it, secret in this case. Ms. Peirce called on MPs to seek answers from the Foreign Office and not let the issue fall out of the public eye. Britain must tell the US that all the other residents and nationals who have returned are living normal, ordinary lives and have reintegrated smoothly into their communities. In a lawless world, political pressure works and it must be applied now.
As well as being a legal tragedy, illegal detention at Guantánamo Bay is also a personal tragedy for family members, loved ones and communities. Ahmed Siddique, Shaker Aamer’s father-in-law spoke of the suffering of his family in Saudi Arabia; his sister recently passed away and his father also died recently, however Mr. Aamer has not been able to have contact with his family. His mother’s health has also deteriorated considerably; she has become ill and is becoming blind through the stress. He compared their situation to that of Jacob (Yaqoob), the father of Joseph (Yusuf), when his son was held on spurious allegations in jail in Egypt, and the suffering families must go through because of injustice. He asked why the British government was not pressurising the US for Mr. Aamer’s return and why there was a delay.
Mohammed El-Banna, the 11 year old son of Jamil El-Banna from north London, whose release was demanded at the same time as that of Mr. Aamer and who returned in December 2007, also addressed the audience. He stated that Mr. Aamer and his family had suffered for seven years for nothing. Mr. Aamer was innocent, just like his father, and no allegations could be proved against him. He stated that his father returned from Guantánamo Bay after five and a half years because people had campaigned for him. He urged the audience to campaign and demand the return of Shaker Aamer as well.
At the meeting, a letter demanding the return of Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha to the UK was signed by those attending. Sixty five people, including the family of Shaker Aamer, several former prisoners and several of their relatives, signed this letter to the Foreign Secretary.
The London Guantánamo Campaign urges everyone to take urgent action for Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha over the next fortnight. We call on everyone to:
1 – write to their MP
2 – write to the Foreign Office (letter attached)
3 – send regular emails to the Foreign Secretary (perhaps once a day) asking where Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha are and what progress is being made in their cases. A short, sweet message is enough. Email the Foreign Secretary at
4 – write to Ahmed Belbacha (290) and Shaker Aamer (239), Guantánamo Bay, PO Box 160, Washington DC20053, USA
An article in The Independent newspaper on 6 May stated that MI5 tried to hire British nationals and residents at Guantánamo Bay and other American-run jails by offering to have them released and secure their return home if they agreed to work for them: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exposed-mi5s-secret-deals-in-camp--xray-1679884.html Money and freedom were offered to detainees and former British nationals and residents who reported being visited by MI5 agents in Guantánamo Bay, Pakistan and Afghanistan. An article published later in The Daily Mail stated that MI5 sent a Muslim agent into the Moroccan jail Binyam Mohamed was held at to persuade him to become an informant for the security services: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1183183/MI5-used-Muslim-007-turn-British-torture-victim-Moroccan-prison.html He was told that his torture would stop if he gave information to the British security services. A British national of Moroccan origin, the agent was known to Binyam before he travelled to Pakistan and had allegedly agreed to become an informant while being held at Bagram, for which reason he was not sent to Guantánamo Bay.
On 8 May, the High Court in London decided to reopen its judgment of February 2009 in the Binyam Mohamed torture case, stating that documents the government has about its involvement in the torture and rendition of Binyam Mohamed should remain secret in the interest of national security. However, following an admission by the Foreign Secretary in this case shortly after the February judgment of having misled parliament and lied about the threat to national security, the case has been reopened and Mr. Miliband will be given one more chance to disclose the evidence he has. The court may otherwise choose to force the government to make these documents public. The hearing of the case started on Friday 22 May. Judgment is expected to be made in June.
Guantánamo Bay:
On 15 May, President Obama announced, following a four month suspension, that he would be resuming military trials at Guantánamo Bay. The suspension was to allow a review of the system. The re-introduction of the commissions comes shortly after relevations about the torture techniques used during interrogations at Guantánamo Bay. After seven years of abuse, arbitrary detention and evidence obtained through torture, it is highly unlikely that any detainee will receive a fair trial and few are likely to be fit to stand trial in any case; detainees have consistently been denied independent medical care. The alternative was to use the civil court system. President Obama has, however, introduced some small changes which he insists will make them acceptable and “more” in line with the US justice system. Some of these changes include a ban on evidence obtained through torture (“harsh interrogation techniques”), restrictions on the use of hearsay evidence and greater choice for defendants in picking their military lawyer. All of these are standard requirements of a fair trial. As few detainees have ever been charged, these tribunals will only affect a minority of them.
On the same day, the second detainee to be released from Guantánamo Bay since Obama became president arrived in France. Algerian-born Bosnian Lakhdar Boumediene whose release was ordered along with that of five other Bosnians last year by a federal judge was not allowed to return to Bosnia by the government there and cannot return to Algeria. France accepted him as part of a token gesture it had made by offering to take one detainee. Mr. Boumediene will be joined in France by his wife and children. Treated in hospital upon his arrival in France, Mr. Boumediene is expected to be subject to restrictions to his freedom of movement.
A Tanzanian detainee, Ahmed Ghailani, accused of involvement in the bombing of a US Embassy in East Africa in 1998, will be the first Guantánamo detainee to stand trial in a US civilian court. Mr. Ghailani is alleged to have confessed at a closed hearing in Guantánamo Bay in 2007 to having admitted to delivering the explosives used in the bombing. However, he claims that he did not know about the attack beforehand. His case is likely to be seen as a test case for trying Guantánamo detainees in the US court system.
On 21 May, the US Senate voted overwhelmingly to reject President Obama’s plans to close Guantánamo Bay and to approve funds to close the prison camp. Requests have been made, particularly by Republicans, for a detailed plan for closure before approving and releasing any funds. In a landmark speech on the same day, in which he admitted that the torture (“enhanced interrogation techniques”) used by the Bush administration “undermined the rule of law” and described Guantánamo Bay as a “misguided experiment”, Obama sparred with former Vice President Dick Cheney who strongly defended the policies of the Bush adminstration and argued for the continuation of detention at Guantánamo Bay. Although Obama, a trained lawyer, pointed out the illegality of Guantánamo Bay and the treatment of detainees there, even under US domestic law, and with Dick Cheney providing a perfect foil, he failed to mention the failings of the system under his own adminstration. President Obama condemned torture but did not mention the ongoing use of the extraordinary rendition programme. More particularly, he proposed that detainees who could not be returned to their countries of origin may be held at “supermax” prisons indefinitely on the US mainland, in many cases after prosecution in a civil trial. This was met with huge disapproval by Republicans fearing the transfer of detainees to the US. Obama perpetuated the myth of the Bush administration that the detainees at Guantánamo Bay are “terrorists” even though they have not faced prosecution in a terrorism trial to ascertain the truth of that claim. According to the Pentagon, one in seven detainees released from Guantánamo Bay have “returned to terrorism”. This is unsubstantiated and proves that in spite of steps away from the practices of the previous adminstration, in key aspects, Barack Obama is following keenly in the footsteps of his predecessor; the US courts have not changed their position and have continued to uphold the constitutional rights of detainees to know the reasons for their detention and to not allow “national security” to provide an excuse to protect companies involved in extraordinary rendition. On the other hand, the adminstration of President Obama has sought to protect companies like Boeing and to continue to deny prisoners at Guantánamo and Bagram the right to know why they are being detained.
Hailed as a positive speech by many commentators, Obama’s speech sets another obstacle to seeking freedom and justice for the Guantánamo detainees. In essence, he proposed shutting Guantánamo Bay only to open up another front in the arbitrary detention of these prisoners. While he stated that the existence of Guantánamo Bay has compromised the safety of the American public, it has also greatly compromised the safety of the men held there, whose involvement in the crimes imputed to them have not been proved. Many of those who cannot return home are now at risk simply for having been spuriously associated with terrorist organisations by the American authorities. The Uighur detainees, for example, were alleged to have links to anti-government groups in China. While this has now been disclaimed, having been tainted by these claims, they cannot return to their homes and families. Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian resident from Bournemouth, was cleared for released in February 2007 but has spent over two years in Guantánamo Bay as he cannot return to Algeria; he had come to Britain in the first place as an asylum seeker fleeing Islamists who wanted to kill him for working for a State-run agency during the civil unrest there and would now be at risk from the government too, due to his alleged links to terrorist organisations abroad. Most of the detainees currently held at Guantánamo are “refugees”: men who cannot return home due to the existence of Guantánamo Bay and their association with it. With just under seven months to close down Guantánamo Bay, however, the burden is not on the Obama adminstration alone and with the alternative appearing to be transfer to a “supermax” facility in the US or Bagram, it is now up to the whole international community, which has been complicit by turning a blind eye to this international abuse of the rule of law among others, to act to prevent this chapter in world history from not being closed but merely swept below the radar. Countries, like the UK, which has used the existence of Guantánamo Bay to legitimise its own practice of detention without trial, again mainly for non-British people, must take action to help their American allies uphold the rule of law by accepting some of these homeless and stateless prisoners. After seven years of inaction, it is the very least they can now do.
LGC Activities:
The LGC monthly “Shut Down Guantánamo!” demonstration outside the US Embassy was held on Friday 1 May. Five people attended. This month’s demonstration is at 6-7pm on Friday 5 June. Join us and call on President Obama to close down Guantánamo Bay and release ALL of the current prisoners to safety. After seven years of confirmed torture and abuse but unsubstantiated allegations against them, there is little, if any, chance of a fair trial for any detainee.
Forthcoming actions for the last two remaining British residents in Guantánamo Bay – Shaker Aamer from Battersea and Ahmed Belbacha from Bournemouth – will be announced shortly. Watch this space!
With increasing allegations of British involvement in torture and extraordinary rendition, the LGC also urges everyone to write to their MP and the Foreign Office to seek an inquiry into the UK’s role in these international crimes. Please find attached more information and a model letter.
Human rights lawyerGareth Peirce likened the present situation where a person can be held without trial on the basis of secret evidence as “a national emergency.”
Addressing a House of Commons meeting on the use of secret evidence to detain individuals without trial, Mrs Peirce said “Here today we have something extremely ugly and dangerous: two evils coming together in torture and secrecy.”
On 21 February 2008, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted in the House of Commons that two “rendition” flights carrying detainees to Guantánamo Bay had stopped off to refuel at the American military base on the British-administered island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The Foreign Secretary further stated that each plane carried a single detainee who did not leave the plane, and that the US had assured the UK that no
On 21 February 2008, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted in the House of Commons that two “rendition” flights carrying detainees to Guantánamo Bay had stopped off to refuel at the American military base on the British-administered island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The Foreign Secretary further stated that each plane carried a single detainee who did not leave the plane, and that the US had assured the UK that no
