SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Pentagon said Tuesday it has dropped war-crimes charges against five Guantanamo Bay detainees after the former prosecutor in their cases complained that the military was withholding evidence helpful to the defence
Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign in association with Repreive is showing the film Taxi to Dark side in Birmingham on thursday the 30th October 7.30 pm at the Birmingham Central Library.
Director Alex Gibney USA Duration 1 Hour 50 minutes
Winner of the Oscar for the documentary feature, Taxi to the Dark Side is a gripping investigation into the reckless abuse of power by the Bush administration
The film show will be followed by a discussion with Andy Worthington of Reprieve and released Guantanamo prisoner Moazzam Begg.
TIckets £ 3.50/£ 2.50 concession available from the library.
FBI admit to detention of Aafia Siddiqui five years after disappearance
In response to the FBI admission that disappeared Aafia Siddiqui is in custody in Afghanistan , alive but injured, Asim Qureshi, Senior Researcher for Cageprisoners, issued the following statement:
There are many questions that the FBI and the Pakistani government need to answer in light of this admission. Where is Aafia currently held, and in whose custody? Where are her children? How has she been injured and does she have sufficient access to medical care? Why has she never been charged with any crime, and why have the FBI continued to pretend to be seeking her while all the while knowing of her detention in Afghanistan ? Is Aafia indeed Prisoner 650 whose screams was heard by former Bagram prisoners?
Aafia Siddiqui is a woman who has been plagued by a number of problems in her life, none of which have anything to do with involvement with Al Qaeda. During the years the US claim she was working as an operative for the organisation, she was in fact the victim of domestic violence at the hands of an abusive husband. Community members in Boston declare that she was incapable of any violence, let alone being involved with a terrorist group.
Whilst we welcome this disclosure from the FBI, it has only come after mounting international pressure, and five years of detention and abuse. Siddiqui’s case represents the problem of disappearances in Pakistan in the most tragic way. The acceptance by the FBI that Siddiqui has been in custody in Afghanistan raises important questions which must be answered by the Pakistani and US governments. Siddiqui must be returned to Pakistan in order to faces charges for any crime she may have committed or released along with her children. British human rights organisation, Cageprisoners has led the campaign for Aafia Siddiqui for the past three years. Since her disappearance in March 2003 in Karachi , along with her three young children, the FBI has continually denied reports of her detention and that she was in their custody. In July 2008, Cageprisoners patron Yvonne Ridley and Director, Saghir Hussain, highlighted the case with the launch of their report, Devoid of the Rule of the Law, at a press conference organised by Imran Khan in Pakistan . The press conference sparked an international storm of outrage, with calls for the identification of Prisoner 650 and the release of Aafia Siddiqui.
Venue & Time Friday the 8th August 8.00 pm Lightwaves Leisure Centre, Lower York Street, Marsh Way, Wakefield WF1 3LJ
Moazzam Begg is one of nine British citizens who were held in Guantanamo Bay by the government of the United States of America. Begg was labelled an "enemy combatant" by the US government and imprisoned without charge or trial for a crime he did not commit. In the three years he spent in custody, much of it in solitary confienement, he was subjected to over 300 interrogations, as well as beatings, death threats and torture, witnessing the killings of two detainees. Since his reelase he has been working with the human rights organisation, cage prisoners, campaigning for those who remain in Guantanamo.
Venue & Time Friday the 8th August 8.00 pm Lightwaves Leisure Centre, Lower York Street, Marsh Way, Wakefield WF1 3LJ
Urgent Action: Binyam Mohamed, 29 year old British resident in Guantánamo Bay
Background:
Binyam Mohamed is a 29 year old Ethiopian who came to the UK in 1994 as an asylum seeker. He lived in Notting Hill, West London, for seven years.
In June 2001, he travelled to Afghanistan to see whether it was a 'good Islamic country or not'. After 9/11, he left for Pakistan. In April 2002, he tried to return to the UK but was arrested at the airport. For the next three months, he was imprisoned by the Pakistani authorities.
In July 2002, he was transferred to American custody. The CIA flew him to Morocco where he was held for 18 months, during which time he was subject to torture and gross human rights violations. He eventually confessed to being involved in the 'dirty bomb' plot targeted at the US with Jose Padilla.
In January 2004, he was rendered to Afghanistan where he was held in Kabul's notorious 'Dark Prison' for five months where he endured further torture. The Americans then took him to Bagram and then Guantánamo Bay in September 2004 where he has been held ever since.
In November 2005, he was charged with conspiring to plot terror attacks against the US; the evidence for this was procured through torture in Morocco. He had a preliminary hearing in June 2006 but his trial was halted when, later in 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled that the trials were illegal.
In August 2007, the British government made representations with the American government to have five British residents, including Binyam Mohamed, returned to the UK. The British government does not believe he poses a threat.
In May 2008, charges were brought against Binyam and he currently faces the prospect of a military tribunal and, if convicted, the death penalty. He is unlikely to receive a fair trial at Guantánamo Bay.
In recent months, Binyam Mohamed's physical and mental health has deteriorated considerably, to the extent that he has taken to smearing the walls of his cell with his own faeces. He is suffering from severe depression.
Take action!!
Binyam Mohamed has been held in Guantánamo Bay for three and a half years and has been subjected to nearly six years of abuse. He is currently facing a military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay and the death penalty if convicted. He has no hope of receiving a fair trial at Guantánamo according to his lawyers.
Write to the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband and your own MP:
¨Tell them that Binyam Mohamed's case is of the utmost urgency. He is close to a complete breakdown and his behaviour, including smearing his excrement on the walls of his cell, demonstrates severe depression. The British government must act on humanitarian grounds to have Binyam released immediately.
¨The UK government must release information that it has in its possession that show that Binyam was a victim of extraordinary rendition and could lead to his release.
¨The British government must act at the highest level to ensure that Binyam is released and does not face a military tribunal. Allowing Binyam to face a military trial would be an effective endorsement of the death penalty and would undermine the rule of law.
Sample letter:
Dear Mr Brown/Miliband/ Your own MP
I am writing to you concerning Binyam Mohamed, the London man who is being held at Guantánamo Bay and faces terrorism charges. The suffering this man has endured in six years of illegal detention in Morocco, Afghanistan and Guantánamo is shocking. Anyone with knowledge of even the sketchiest details of his treatment, and having any concern for justice and the rule of law, could feel nothing but revulsion.
News of his being charged after six years, with conspiring to commit terrorism offences in the US, to be tried by military tribunal, and using evidence obtained under extreme, prolonged torture, is of grave concern. In these circumstances, he cannot receive a fair trial.
Furthermore, I am concerned that if convicted Binyam faces the death penalty. By failing to challenge the use of military tribunals, which undermine the rule of law and by standing by while Binyam faces such a trial, the UK would be condoning the death penalty, which we do not allow here.
It is also of deep concern that the UK Government is not willing to defend itself against allegations that it appears to have been complicit in Binyam's rendition and ill treatment, or to comply with his lawyers' request for the release of documents which could aid his case.
I call on the Government to do everything in its power to assist this man in obtaining his full human rights, and ultimately his freedom.
Also write to your MP (contact details at www.theyworkforyou. com) and ask them to contact and bring pressure to bear on the Foreign Secretary concerning Binyam Mohamed on your behalf.
Binyam Mohamed is a 29-year old Ethiopian national who came to the UK in 1994 as an asylum seeker. He lived and worked in west London for over 7 years. While travelling in South Asia in 2002, Binyam was kidnapped in Pakistan and handed over by the Pakistani military, who were selling foreign nationals at the time for $5000, to the American military, in whose hands he has been ever since. A victim of the “extraordinary rendition” programme, Binyam was taken to Morocco for 18 months where he was tortured horrendously, including having a scalpel used to make incisions on his penis to force confessions from him. He was then “rendered” to the notorious “Dark Prison” in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was held for several months before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay in September 2004 where he has been held ever since.
In November 2005, based on the torture he was subjected to in Morocco, Binyam was charged with conspiring to plot attacks against the US. Although he faced a preliminary hearing, he was never fully tried. Along with four other British residents, his release and return to the UK was sought by the British government in August 2007. Although three of these men returned to the UK at the end of 2007, Binyam remains in Guantánamo Bay as the US is refusing to release him. On 30 May 2008, he was charged with terrorism-related offences and is due to be brought before a military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay. These trials have been described as “kangaroo courts” by Lord Steyn. Binyam currently faces the prospect of the death penalty and is unlikely to receive a fair trial at Guantánamo Bay. His lawyers claim that he is in a very fragile mental and emotional state, is suffering from depression and has taken to smearing the walls of his cell with his own faeces. On Friday 30 May, a letter from Binyam was delivered to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in which he stated that he was currently contemplating suicide as “that would be one way to end it I suppose”.
On Saturday 31 May, over one hundred people attended a public meeting organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign at the Beethoven Centre, Queen’s Park, in west London, close to where Binyam spent seven years of his life, to raise awareness of his plight.
Chaired by David Harrold from the London Guantánamo Campaign, the first speaker was Karen Buck, Binyam’s MP. She spoke about the need for due process regardless of the circumstances and personal context of Binyam’s case. She reported that she is currently working with Reprieve, the legal charity representing Binyam, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She has written to the Foreign Secretary and the American ambassador to the UK to seek answers regarding Binyam’s plight and will be making direct representations to the Prime Minister given the charges brought on Friday 30 May. She emphasised the need for due process and respect for the rule of law by all. She described Guantánamo Bay as an “aberration”, an “abomination” and “ineffective”.
Ms. Buck was followed by Sarah Teather MP, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Guantánamo Bay, who led a tireless campaign for her constituent Jamil El-Banna, one of the men whose release was sought along with Binyam’s in August last year and who returned in December 2007. Ms. Teather said that it was hard work for MPs to get their constituents returned from Guantánamo Bay. She urged concerned individuals to write to their MPs, even if they had done so before, to pressurise the government to act. The government must also get other countries to act to take back their residents too. She stated that it is very important that everyone work together to seek the release of Binyam and other detainees at Guantánamo Bay.
Chris Chang from Reprieve then addressed the audience. He started off by reading a letter from Binyam delivered to Gordon Brown on 30 May. In his letter, dated 22 May 2008, Binyam reported that he had been held “without trial by the US for 6 years, 1 month and 12 days. That is 2,234 days (very long days, and often longer nights)”. He stated that it is “long past time to end this matter” and urged the government to act to help him. Mr. Chang reminded the audience that the government had actually agreed to allow Binyam to return to the UK last year and that he should be allowed to return. He described Binyam’s experience since he capture as a “horrendous journey” through Morocco, Afghanistan and finally onto Guantánamo Bay where his ordeal is ongoing. He described the “military tribunals” at Guantánamo as a “true loss of hope” as there was no hope of a fair trial. Reprieve does not believe that this will be a fair process at all. He reported that Binyam would like to return to the UK and if there are charges against him that he be tried here. He urged the public to keep up the pressure on the UK and US governments and to keep Binyam’s story in the public eye. Reprieve believes that Binyam’s trial is politically motivated.
Before the final two speakers, there was a brief interlude during which the hard-hitting American documentary film Outlawed, about extraordinary rendition, focusing on the stories of Binyam Mohamed and the German Khaled El-Masri was shown.
Camilla Jelbart from Amnesty International then spoke about the disregard for international law shown by US justice in the “war of terror” and the extraordinary rendition programme. She criticised other countries for their collusion in the programmes of “illegal and secret detention”. She described military tribunals as another example of the disregard for the law as detainees are unable to challenge their detention – the right of habeas corpus is suspended – and there is a lower threshold for the admission of evidence. Ms. Jelbart stated that the British government must do what it can to bring Binyam Mohamed back to the UK and ensure his treatment is legal. She urged the public to write to their MPs and pressurise the government to come clean about its role in the extraordinary rendition programme.
The final speaker was Bisher El-Rawi, a former detainee and Iraqi national who returned to the UK in March 2007. Regarding Binyam’s letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. El-Rawi stated that it was a “cry from people who are hurt, who are being hurt everyday and whose suffering continues”, regardless of media reports that the situation is improving for detainees. He stated that the US as a world leader has shown a unique level of meanness at Guantánamo Bay and that Guantánamo itself is quite unique. He described it as a “really horrific place, that destroys people, a bit at a time, day by day”, destroying their mental and physical health as well as their characters. He reported that Binyam’s story, which he had been reluctant to share when he first arrived at Guantánamo, really was one of the worst ordeals any detainee had been through.
The London Guantánamo Campaign, in response to the charges, used the meeting to start new actions to help secure the release of Binyam Mohamed. Binyam will be 30 years old on 24 July and the LGC will be holding a demonstration opposite Downing Street on that day at 6-8pm to call on the government to bring Binyam home. The LGC is also urging the public to send Gordon Brown birthday cards around that date calling on him to act to release information that the government has which would secure Binyam’s release. The LGC is also urging the public to write to their MPs, the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister to ask them to take immediate action to seek the release of Binyam Mohamed and his return to the UK. By allowing Binyam to appear before a military tribunal, the British government is condoning the death penalty and an unrecognised “legal” process.
On 24 July 2008, Binyam Mohamed will be 30 years old. Unlike most other people aged 30, on that day, Binyam will have spent one out of every five years of his life in illegal American detention. Arrested in Pakistan in 2002, he was transferred to CIA custody. A victim of the “extraordinary rendition” programme, he was tortured in Morocco for 18 months, where a torture technique used involved making multiple incisions all over his body with a scalpel, including his penis. Binyam has been held in Guantánamo Bay since September 2004. The US recently brought terrorism-related charges against him; he is to face a military tribunal and could face the death penalty if convicted. In August 2007, the British government asked for his return to the UK which the US refused. Lawyers for Binyam have recently started a lawsuit against the British government to make them release evidence to the US which could see Binyam freed. The British government must do more and act more visibly to secure Binyam’s release from Guantánamo Bay and return to the UK, where he lived for more than 7 years.
Join us on 24 July 2008 at a special birthday demonstration Opposite Downing Street (nearest tube: Westminster) At 6-8pm To call on Gordon Brown and the British government to act to bring Binyam home. Join us and make some noise in this unique birthday bash to remind our government of their moral and humane obligations. Let’s make some noise for Binyam!
Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign For more details, email
/ call Jalil on 07985 382 188 Supported by Reprieve, CAMPACC and Cageprisoners www.guantanamo.org.uk This is an authorised demonstration Happy Birthday Binyam!
Celebrate Binyam Mohamed’s 30th birthday – send a postcard or a birthday card to Gordon Brown and tell him to take action to make sure that this is Binyam’s last birthday in Guantánamo Bay. The British government must: ¨ Take action at the highest level to secure the release of Binyam and his return to his country (which has already been requested) ¨ Release documentary evidence to the American authorities that proves that Binyam was a victim of “extraordinary rendition” – documents that could see him released ¨ Understand that 6 years is more than enough – it’s time to honour our moral obligations
Send your birthday card/postcard on or around 24 July 2008 to: Gordon Brown MP House of Commons London SW1A 1AA Or send a virtual card to
You can also send Binyam a birthday card/greeting card (preferably earlier than 24 July) to: Binyam Mohamed (1458) Camp Delta, US Naval Base Guantánamo Bay, Washington DC 20355, USA
SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Sarah Teather MP Zachary Katznelson (from Reprieve, Binyam’s legal counsel) Camilla Jelbart (Amnesty International) Bruce Kent (prisoner rights activist) Bisher El-Rawi (former detainee)
At: THE BEETHOVEN CENTRE, THIRD AVENUE, LONDON, W10 4JL (nearest tube: Queen’s Park/bus: 6, 187, 316, 18, 36)
Binyam Mohamed is a 29 year old Ethiopian national who lived in west London for over 7 years. He was kidnapped in Pakistan in 2002 while travelling through the region, and handed over to the CIA who illegally “rendered” him to Morocco. After 18 months of interrogation under torture, he was “rendered” again, to an underground prison in Kabul, before finally being taken to Guantánamo Bay in September 2004, where he has been held without trial ever since. In November 2005, on the basis of evidence extracted under torture in Morocco, he was charged with conspiring to plot attacks against the USA. In the autumn of 2007, the British Government requested Binyam’s return to Britain. The US refused his release, stating that they plan to try him by military commission. As a result of almost six years of torture and abuse, Binyam is in an extremely poor mental and physical state; a medial report has concluded that he is suffering from severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder.
Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign
/ www.guantanamo.org.uk for more details, please call Christine on 07737 783 159
Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign
/ for more details, please call Christine on 07737 783 159
In the early hours of this morning Reprieve client and Al Jazeera journalist, Sami Al Haj, was finally released from Guantánamo Bay and reunited with his wife and young son in Sudan. Noticeably weak after over six years in US custody – and his 16-month hunger strike – Sami nevertheless spoke up for his fellow prisoners from his hospital bed in Khartoum. He later spoke to Zachary Katznelson, Reprieve’s Senior Counsel, to thank Reprieve and our supporters for their work on his behalf. For more details Click here
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came to the UK in 1994 as an asylum seeker. He lived and worked in west London for over 7 years. While travelling in South Asia in 2002, Binyam was kidnapped in Pakistan and handed over by the Pakistani military, who were selling foreign nationals at the time for $5000, to the American military, in whose hands he has been ever since. A victim of the “extraordinary rendition” programme, Binyam was taken to Morocco for 18 months where he was tortured horrendously, including having a scalpel used to make incisions on his penis to force confessions from him. He was then “rendered” to the notorious “Dark Prison” in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was held for several months before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay in September 2004 where he has been held ever since. 
Campaign, the first speaker was Karen Buck, Binyam’s MP. She spoke about the need for due process regardless of the circumstances and personal context of Binyam’s case. She reported that she is currently working with Reprieve, the legal charity representing Binyam, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She has written to the Foreign Secretary and the American ambassador to the UK to seek answers regarding Binyam’s plight and will be making direct representations to the Prime Minister given the charges brought on Friday 30 May. She emphasised the need for due process and respect for the rule of law by all. She described Guantánamo Bay as an “aberration”, an “abomination” and “ineffective”.
August last year and who returned in December 2007. Ms. Teather said that it was hard work for MPs to get their constituents returned from Guantánamo Bay. She urged concerned individuals to write to their MPs, even if they had done so before, to pressurise the government to act. The government must also get other countries to act to take back their residents too. She stated that it is very important that everyone work together to seek the release of Binyam and other detainees at Guantánamo Bay.
about the disregard for international law shown by US justice in the “war of terror” and the extraordinary rendition programme. She criticised other countries for their collusion in the programmes of “illegal and secret detention”. She described military tribunals as another example of the disregard for the law as detainees are unable to challenge their detention – the right of habeas corpus is suspended – and there is a lower threshold for the admission of evidence. Ms. Jelbart stated that the British government must do what it can to bring Binyam Mohamed back to the UK and ensure his treatment is legal. She urged the public to write to their MPs and pressurise the government to come clean about its role in the extraordinary rendition programme.
continues”, regardless of media reports that the situation is improving for detainees. He stated that the US as a world leader has shown a unique level of meanness at Guantánamo Bay and that Guantánamo itself is quite unique. He described it as a “really horrific place, that destroys people, a bit at a time, day by day”, destroying their mental and physical health as well as their characters. He reported that Binyam’s story, which he had been reluctant to share when he first arrived at Guantánamo, really was one of the worst ordeals any detainee had been through.