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Former Moroccan detainee in Guantanamo: Pakistani authorities sold me and other Arabs to the America PDF Print E-mail
the Pakistani authorities deceived Americans by extraditing persons who had nothing to do with the events of September 11 to get a handful of dollars.

Iqbal Tamimi – EJN
17 / 2 / 2008
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Hundreds of Yemeni families of Guantanamo detainees demonstrated outside Yemen's Parliament PDF Print E-mail
Iqbal Tamimi / Journalist and Human Rights activist
13 /2 / 2008

Hundreds of families and relatives of Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo demonstrated before the parliament to demand more pressure on the Yemeni and American governments to work to release 104 Yemeni detainees remaining in Guantanamo prison.

The statement was issued by ‘Hood’ the Yemeni human rights organization, which means the vast majority of them in Guantanamo after being released Most of the detainees from other nationalities.
Demonstrators of women, men and children lifted pictures of the detainees and banners boring sentences like(weyemen1_1.jpg demand the closure of Guantanamo prison, free our children immediately, we demand the closer of secret prisons in the United States and other areas claiming they were built to counteract terrorism).
Two Yemeni human rights organizations, The Hood Organization and the Organization of Alkarama were working for years to help free the prisoners of Guantanamo; they both issued a message to the parliament in which they stated: "The families and relatives of prisoners in Guantanamo demand the closure of all illegal American prisons including the ones in Afghanistan, and Cuba. And they demand the release of all detainees and returning them back to their countries including Yemenis who are definitively the largest number amongst other different nationalities.
The letter noted that although many States have received most of its citizens in those prisons, Yemen still has not received but only 17 detainees, four of whom were extradited from secret prisons and 13 were released from Guantanamo, leaving 104 Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo, and two in Bagram prison detained there since six years.
The families and relatives of the Yemeni detainees requested of the Yemeni Parliament and the government to make more efforts and pressure on the American government to take serious action regarding the process to release the prisoners. yemeni2.jpgThey called also for the formation of a parliamentary committee to follow up the issues related with the Yemeni prisoners abroad, and finding facts about what has been done by the Yemeni government in this regard.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the United States of America many times to handed over Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo, as well as the detainees Muhammad Ali Almoayyed, and his Mohammed Zayed.
US Military Doctors Infect Guantanamo Detainee with HIV PDF Print E-mail

US Attorney H. Candace Gorman has revealed that her client Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi has been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Al Ghizzawi believes the infection happened during medical procedures at Guantanamo in 2004 when he was given a blood test which resulted in alarm amongst the hospital staff. Al Ghizzawi was not given any explanation for the alarm at the time. As a result Al-Ghizzawi has now been told that he is suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Having already been suffering from Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis (which he also acquired at Guantanamo ) Al Ghizzawi has been held in severe isolation in Camp 6.


Gorman filed an emergency application with the US Supreme Court asking that the US military be ordered to treat Al-Ghizzawi’s medical problems and for medical records to be turned over to her. Chief Judge Roberts denied the motion despite it being stated by the chief medical doctor at Guantanamo , Dr Sollock, that Al-Ghizzawi did not suffer from any ill health on arrival to the base.


Al-Ghizzawi’s health has rapidly deteriorated and Cageprisoners calls for the immediate release of his medical records so that adequate medical treatment can be given to the detainee. Spokesman for Cageprisoners and former Guantanamo detainee, Moazzam Begg said,


“That a man who has endured more than half a decade in the world’s most infamous prison – without charge or trial – is now infected with the world’s most dreaded disease is preposterous. How will the US administration explain this one to his family? More ‘robust interrogation techniques’?”


With Al-Ghizzawi’s condition as it is, Candace Gorman made the following plea,


“Al-Ghizzawi is an innocent civilian turned over to the Americans in response to a bounty (cash American dollars for Arabs). Al-Ghizzawi has been taken from his wife and young daughter and he will die if he is not given immediate medical care, and yet the American military cannot be bothered… I ask that all of you please contact the American state department and ask them to release this innocent and very ill man.”


A double heart-attack of Saifullah Paracha, the death of an Afghan detainee due to cancer and the deaths of four other detainees in Guantanamo all highlight the serious medical difficulties of those being detained. The US administration must put pressure on the public to give full medical treatment to those under its control. However, the medical situation only reiterates the more pressing concern that these men must either be charged for crimes under a system that is recognised to be fair and open, or must be released expeditiously.

Saleh seeking Europe’s assistance to release Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo PDF Print E-mail
By Iqbal Tamimi / Journalist and human rights activist
1/2/2008
Informed sources said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is currently visiting a number of European countries, is seeking the help of European Organization to show more serious efforts to close Guantanamo prison, and release the rest of the detainees in Guantanamo including almost 100 Yemeni prisoners still detained there.
Adnan Farhan Latif is a Yemeni detainee who has been incarcerated at Guantanamo since 2001.jpg
Adnan Farhan Latif, whose photograph is included with this report, is one of the Yemen national who has been at Guantanamo since 2001.

The official sources said that the meeting was held yesterday in Brussels between the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and European foreign policy coordinator Javier Solana.
The spokeswoman for Solana said that the meeting dealt with developments in Yemen and the region and the European Yemeni relations.  President Saleh, who is visiting Brussels within his tour to the European Union met with the European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Waldner and a number of European and Belgian parliament members.
The sources said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, met Marie Aezn decisions Organizer for Security and European cooperation on the Guantanamo detainee’s matters, and demanded more serious European efforts to close the jail, and to ensure the speedy release of the 100 Yemeni Guantanamo detainees.
American officials said earlier that Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo prison represent the biggest obstacle to the closure of the jail, because the United States does not believe that the Yemeni government will take sufficient action to prevent them from returning to practice terrorism after their release.
The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh demanded in a message sent to President George W. Bush to close Guantanamo jail and return of Yemeni prisoners to their country.
USA claims Yemeni prisoners are an impediment to the closure of Guantanamo PDF Print E-mail
USA claims Yemeni prisoners are an impediment to the closure Guantanamo and Yemen deplores such statement
By Iqbal Tamimi
A Journalist and a Human Rights Activist
27 / 1 / 2008
Yemeni security source expressed their shock after reading some published media statements attributed to American officials in relation to the Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo, saying that these detainees represent the biggest obstacle to the closure of the jail.
The Yemeni source confirmed  to the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), the falsity of such statements made by American officials, who were said they felt that the Yemeni government would not take sufficient action to prevent the released detainees from returning to practice terrorism after their release. The Yemeni source described such insinuations as not based on proper basis.
The source denied such accusations and said: “it is regrettable that Yemen is one of the first countries scorched the brunt of terrorism, and was most affected in terms of its economy losses and national investments."
Yemen repeated its demands to close the Guantanamo detention and the extradition of all Yemeni detainees held in this prison and other  USA  jails, like Guantanamo prisoners Muhammad Ali Almoayyed, and Mohammed Zayed, and others.
His Excellency President Ali Abdallah Saleh President of the Republic of Yemen requested of the American President George W. Bush to hand the Yemeni prisoners back to their country, and confirmed the willingness of Yemen to put those prisoners for a trial according to the evidence put forward against them. And he promised all those found guilty after trial according to the evidence submitted against them, will continue serving their sentences in Yemeni jails.
Human Rights in Saudi Arabia calls upon President Bush to release Guantanamo detainees PDF Print E-mail
11th January 2008
By Iqbal Tamimi

In a report published today on the national Saudi Arabian Alriyadh newspaper, The National Human Rights Society in Saudi Arabia called upon President George w Bush during his historical visit to release all the rest of prisoners remained in Guantanamo, and to close the prison for ever, demanding the release of the Saudi prisoner Humaidan Alturki.
The announcement was made by the Chair of the society Dr.
Bandar Alhajjar, at a press conference held at Albabotain Cultural Centre.

Dr. Alhajjar explained that the Society is taking the opportunity during President Bush’s visit to the Kingdom to talk about the detained Saudi prisoners at Guantanamo, who were held for more than 5 years without being charged or convicted or stand a trial. Such prolonged detention raised many negative outcomes for them and their families Dr. Alhajjar said.

The Saudi National Society for Human Rights stressed that
 this prolonged detention without trial counteracts with the principals and ethics recognised by US law, which was established on justice and freedom and according to International laws.

The Society urged President Bust to release the detainees immediately, to offer them the chance to enrol in a mental rehabilitation program created by the government of Saudi Arabia, hailed on national and international level for its success.
10 prisoners returning home today from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia PDF Print E-mail
29/12/2007
By Iqbal Tamimi - UK
The speaker on behalf of  security affairs at Ministry of Interior in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced today the 29th of December 2007 the return of 10 Saudi prisoners from Guantanamo. Their families have been informed of their arrivals, and arrangements have been made to meet them.
It is worth mentioning that there were not even one evidence to support USA‘s decision to imprison those people, and others at Guantanamo for almost 5 years.
The men were extremely exhausted after years of unfair imprisonment, and bad treatment. Their release was an outcome of the joint effort of human rights organisations and groups, lawyers, and a large number of individuals who respected the dignity of humans, and their rights.
The names of returned prisoners from Guantanamo to KSA are as follows:
Ziyad Saleh Muhammad Elbahooth
Mishaal Saad Abdeazeez Alrasheed
Jameel Ali Atyan Alkaabi
Khalid Mlooh Shayea Alqahtani
Nayef Fahad Motlaq Alotaibi
Abdallah Eadah Abdallah Almotrafi
Abdallah Alee Nayef Alotaibi
Bandar Ali Abdelaziz Alromaihi
Abdelrahman Nashi Badi Alotaibi
Abdelhakeem Abdelrahman abdelazeez Almosa
Return of British residents from Guantanamo PDF Print E-mail
The National Coalition welcomes the arrival of three of the British residents from Guantanamo to Britain last night. However, we are concerned and disappointed about their arrests on landing in Britain and specially the subsequent extradition request for Jamil el Banna by the Spanish law enforecment agencies. These same agencies had several years to consider any evidence they may have had against Jamil but refused to request his extradition from Guantanamo stating that they had no case against him. His extradition would be challenged and we also demand that all the other returnees be released immediately to their families. It is an ocassion of celebration in both the christian and muslim calanders and for the authorities to hold these men to fulfil some political agendas does not speak well for our society and its administrators. The families of the detainees and the detainees have suffered enough to have to go through such callous treatment at the end of their ordeal at Guantanamo.

Jamil el Banna will be presented to the Westminister Magistrates Court this morning thursday the 20th December 2007around 10.00 pm, the National Coalition would urge all those can to attend the court to show their support for Jamil and other returnees and impress on the court the unjust nature of the extradition request by the Spanish law enforcement authorities after the long ordeal these detainees have been through over the last several years.
Ex US Army Chaplain James Yee at Guantanamo on a speaking tour of UK with Moazzam PDF Print E-mail
Click here for details of individual meetings across Britain with James and Moazzam


Cageprisoners is hosting a series of events around the UK, and inviting
people to attend a truly unique opportunity to hear former US army
Chaplain James Yee speak and discuss his experiences with former
Guantánamo detainee and Cageprisoners’ spokesman, Moazzam Begg.

There are few people in the world who have never heard of the notorious US
military prison facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. However, very few people
have heard eye-witness accounts from US military personnel who served
there - and even more rarely from Muslims within the US military.

Chaplain (Yusuf) James J. Yee, a former US Army Chaplain and graduate of
West Point served as the Muslim Chaplain for the U.S. prison camp in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003. While ministering to prisoners at
Guantanamo Bay, Captain Yee advised camp commanders on detainee religious
practices and objected to the cruel and degrading abuses to which the
prisoners were subjected.

What sets Yee’s already unique story apart from others is how his fortune
changed from being recognized twice as an outstanding officer serving the
US military to being regarded as an enemy of the state. Captain Yee was
arrested and imprisoned in a Naval brig for 76 days in September 2003
while being falsely accused of spying, espionage, and aiding the alleged
Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners.

He was held in solitary confinement and
subjected to the same sensory deprivation techniques that were being used
against the prisoners in Cuba that he had been ministering to.

After months of government investigation, all criminal charges were
dropped. He tendered his resignation from the U.S. Army and received an
Honorable Discharge on January 7, 2005. Upon separation he was awarded
with a second Army Commendation medal for “exceptionally meritorious
service.”

James Yee will be speaking with Moazzam Begg at the London Muslim Centre
on Wednesday 5th December, (in conjunction with Q News and Hidden
Detainees), in Birmingham on Thursday 6th December (co-organised by the
Birmingham Guantanamo Coalition), where they will also be joined by the
‘Tipton Three’, and in Luton on Sunday 9th December.

Yee will also be touring the UK, in conjunction with FOSIS, Scotland
Against Criminalising Communities, Save Omar Deghayes Campaign, and
speaking in a host of cities, amongst them Glasgow, Dundee, Brighton,
Manchester, and Lampeter. For full details of his UK itinery see below.

Copies of Yee’s gripping account of his Guantanamo experience and struggle
for justice For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire will also
be available at most events

Dates and Venues:
Wednesday 28th November - Lancaster University
Thursday 29th Nov - Kings College, London, 5 pm
Friday 30th Nov - FOSIS, University of Sussex & University of Portsmouth
Saturday 1st December - FOSIS, University of Kent
Sunday 2nd Dec - FOSIS, University of Bristol & University of Exeter
Monday 3rd Dec - FOSIS, Midlands
Tuesday 4th Dec - FOSIS, Manchester Metropolitan & University of Leeds
Wednesday 5th Dec - Cageprisoners, Hidden Detainees and Q News, London
Muslim Centre, Whitechapel E1, 6:30pm. With Moazzam Begg
http://www.cagepris oners.com/ campaigns. php?id=597
Thursday 6th Dec - Cageprisoners and Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign,
Birmingham, 7pm, With Moazzam Begg and Tipton Three
Friday 7th Dec - SACC, Glasgow
Saturday 8th Dec - FOSIS, Dundee University
Sunday 9th Dec - Cageprisoners, Dallow Community Centre, 234 Dallow Road,
Luton, LU1 1TF, 5:30pm http://www.cagepris oners.com/ campaigns. php?id=598
Monday 10th Dec - Save Omar, Brighton

For Further Information contact:

Email: contact@cageprisone rs.com

Phone: +44 797 326 4197

James Yee and Moazzam Begg will be available for interview on request.
Take Action for AHMED BELBACHA – let him return to the UK PDF Print E-mail
In August 2007, Gordon Brown’s government decided to allow FIVE men being held at the US-run Guantánamo Bay detention camp to return to the UK . All of these men have close links to the UK – having lived here for extended periods or as they have British families. While this is a welcome move by the British government, one man was significantly missed off the list: Ahmed Belbacha, a 36 year old Algerian national.

Ahmed was cleared for release by the Pentagon in February 2007 and is deemed to pose no threat by the US authorities but has since been left languishing in Guantánamo Bay for the best part of this year for want of a country to claim him.

Ahmed cannot return to his native Algeria as he fled the country after threats were made to his life by Islamists and is likely to face further persecution by the government if he is returned having been tarnished by unfounded claims of being an “enemy combatant”.

Ahmed’s claim for asylum in the UK was being appealed in 2001 when he was kidnapped and turned over to the US military in Pakistan . He should be allowed to return to the UK , where he had lived, in Bournemouth , for over two and a half years.

The US authorities are currently trying to return him to Algeria where his life will be in danger. His lawyers are currently appealing to the US courts to block his return there.

Take action – write to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband to ask him to write to Condoleezza Rice to request Ahmed Belbacha’s return to the UK (cut and paste the following letter, print it and post it or email it to milibandd@parliamen t.uk. This letter may also be sent to Jacqui Smith (smithjj@parliament. uk), the Home Secretary. Feel free to edit the content.


Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP

Foreign Secretary,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
King Charles St ,
London SW1A 2AH


Dear Mr. Miliband,

I am writing to you concerning the plight of Ahmed Belbacha, who is currently being held at Guantánamo Bay .

Ahmed Belbacha is a 36 year old Algerian who fled to the UK in July 2000 and claimed asylum. Before fleeing Algeria he had been targeted by the GIA because he was an employee of the state-run Sonatrach Petroleum Company.  His application for asylum was refused by the Home Office on the routine Home Office grounds for refusal that the GIA was not a force in the whole country so it was said that Ahmed could safely live elsewhere within Algeria.  Unfortunately by the time of the hearing of his appeal in December 2001, Ahmed had already been kidnapped in Pakistan and was on his way to Guantánamo Bay , where he has been ever since. Consequently his appeal was heard in his absence and was denied on 2 January 2002. 

Despite being deemed by the Military Annual Review Board in Guantánamo Bay in February 2007 not to pose a threat to the US and her allies and hence cleared for release, he remains detained at GTMO as he was not included in the list of former British residents whose return to this country you requested in August of this year.

As the US has publicly stated that its policy is to return cleared detainees to their country of nationality, Ahmed faces the real prospect of being returned to Algeria where his life will be in grave danger; particularly following the suspicion that must now attract to him as a person who at one point was deemed by the US military to be an ‘enemy combatant’.

The only humane course open is for you to allow Ahmed to return to the UK and give him an opportunity to pursue his application for asylum.  This is a matter of natural justice.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,


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 Ahmed Belbacha on your behalf.


House of Commons

London, SW1A 0AA



Dear

I am writing to you as my Constituency MP, to express my concerns about the plight of Ahmed Belbacha, who is being held at Guantánamo Bay . I would appreciate a reply to my letter.

Ahmed Belbacha is a 36 year old Algerian who fled to the UK in July 2000 and claimed asylum. Before fleeing Algeria he had been targeted by the GIA because he was an employee of the state-run Sonatrach Petroleum Company.  His application for asylum was refused by the Home Office on the routine Home Office grounds for refusal that the GIA was not a force in the whole country so it was said that Ahmed could safely live elsewhere within Algeria.  Unfortunately by the time of the hearing of his appeal in December 2001, Ahmed had already been kidnapped in Pakistan and was on his way to Guantánamo Bay , where he has been ever since. Consequently his appeal was heard in his absence and was denied on 2 January 2002. 

Despite being deemed by the Military Annual Review Board in Guantánamo Bay in February 2007 not to pose a threat to the US and her allies and hence cleared for release, he remains detained at GTMO as Ahmed was not included in the list of former British residents whose return to this country was requested by the Foreign Secretary in August of this year.

As the US has publicly stated that its policy is to return cleared detainees to their country of nationality, Ahmed faces the real prospect of being returned to Algeria where his life will be in grave danger; particularly following the suspicion that must now attract to him as a person who at one point was deemed by the US military to be an ‘enemy combatant’.

The only humane course open to the British Government is to allow Ahmed to return to the UK and give him an opportunity to pursue his application for asylum.  This is a matter of natural justice.

I am writing to ask you to bring pressure to bear upon the Government to take a moral stance, by extending their efforts on behalf of Ahmed Belbacha to allow him to return to this country and pursue his claim for asylum.

I ask you to pass my concerns about this to the Foreign Secretary, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
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