Those travelling by Train to Birmingham  
Take No 16 From Bull Street (Bull Street Map Location) to Hampstead Road,
Hampstead Village (about 15 minutes)

From Hampstead Village Take 424 to Rocky Lane ,
Lavendon Road – See the map of the protest Map Meeting Point Junction with Rocky Lane

The protest will be followed by a meeting at the University of Central England (Perry Barr Campus), Attwood building Room 040 starting after the protest around 3.00 pm.  

16th of November marked the fourth anniversary of the kidnapping of the three British residents and their subsequent illegal imprisonment at Guantanamo. Major cities in Britain, including Birmingham, Edinburgh and London held meetings to mark the day and to campaign for the release of British residents and the closure of Guantanamo and other prisons like it where individuals are imprisoned illegally.

BirminghamIn Birmingham, campaigners for the closure of Guantanamo invited councillors from all political groups to come and discuss the plight of the British residents still held at Guantanamo and the refusal of the British government to take responsibility for these residents and secure their release to the safety and security of Britain. Liberal, Labour and Respect councillors were represented and the candidate for The Green Party at the last council election spoke on behalf of the Greens. A petition with around 2000 signatures demanding that the Birmingham Council pass a resolution asking the British government to act on behalf of the British residents detained at Guantanamo was discussed and it was agreed that the petition will be presented to the leaders of the council at the start of the next council meeting scheduled for the 5th of December 2006.

We hope as many people as possible would come out to deliver the petition on Tuesday the 5th of December for 13:30 outside the Council House, Birmingham city centre. If you have not already signed the petiton please do so. Click here to Sign the Petition

London

The London Guantanamo Campaign held a public meeting in Willesden Green, northwest London, on 16 November 2006. The meeting was held to mark the fourth anniversary of the kidnap, rendition and imprisonment of Jamil El-Banna and Bisher El-Rawi in Gambia, Afghanistan and, for the past three and a half years, in Guantanamo Bay. Like most of the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, they are subject to arbitrary detention without charge or trial.

Jamil El-Banna's sons Anas (10) and Mohammed (9) started off the meeting by reading out a letter that Anas had written and a poem by Mohammed. Jamil El-Banna's MP Sarah Teather then spoke of her campaign to have her constituent released. She asserted that Jamil poses no threat to the United Kingdom and there is no security reason for the British government to block his return to this country in spite of the US's demanded security requirements.

Other speakers included Yvonne Ridley, Political Editor at the Islam Channel, Asim Qureshi from Cageprisoners and Zachary Katznelson from Reprieve, a legal charity representing 38 Guantanamo prisoners, including all the British residents. Zachary recently returned to the UK from Guantanamo where he met both Jamil and Bisher. Concerning their situation, he said that Bisher El-Rawi is currently being held in Camp 5 which is the maximum security wing as he is refusing to cooperate with the American military authorities anymore. Jamil El-Banna is currently being held in medium security conditions where he has greater freedom of movement and can speak to other prisoners at times. The fact that last month Jamil was able to speak to his wife in London during a one hour phone call, on humanitarian grounds following the death of his mother, is both unprecedented and proves that he is not considered a threat.

Representatives from Amnesty International and CAMPACC also spoke and answered questions. Statements were read out on behalf of Sabah El-Banna, Jamil's wife, Jahida Sayyadi, Bisher's mother and Amani Deghayes, the sister of Omar Deghayes, a British resident from Brighton. Approximately forty people attended the meeting which was rather upbeat and positive. The London Guantanamo Campaign is holding its next monthly meeting, on Wednesday 22 November, at 7-9pm at the same venue (Pakistani Community Centre, Marley Walk, Off Station Parade, NW2) to discuss events to mark the fifth anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo in January. Please come and join us.

Edinburgh Over 100 people attended a public meeting in Edinburgh's Augustine Church on Thursday 16 November to mark the fourth anniversary of the kidnap, rendition and imprisonment of Jamil El-Banna and Bisher El-Rawi.

Messages from Jahida Sayyadi, mother of Guantanamo detainee Bisher Al-Rawi, from Amani Deghayes, sister of Guantanamo detainee Omar Deghayes and from Sabah El-Banna, wife of  Guantanamo detainee Jamil El-Banna were read out at the start of the meeting. 

It was pointed out that the Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty had noted in his report on rendition that Jamil El-Banna's interogators had made "shameful threats against his [Jamil's] family living in London." Dick Marty - a hard-bitten former Swiss judge who  made his name investigating organised crime - added in a footnote to his report "I prefer not to quote this extremely upsetting testimony."
The meeting was told that Sabbah El-Banna had received an unprecedented phone call from her husband just before Eid - which she called "happy and surprising news, which was painful as well."

Due to technical difficulties our showing of the film "Outlawed" had to be halted after a few minutes, but our two speakers - Craig Murray and Aamer Anwar - held the audience spell-bound without any help from the big screen.

Jim Aitken read the poem "Prison Cell" by his friend Ghazi Hussein, a Palestinian refugee and survivor of prison and torture.

Glasgow lawyer Aamer Anwar called the refusal of Scottish police to act upon evidence that aircraft involved in rendition have been using Scottish airports a "cop-out." Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan,  said that the authorities would act soon enough of there was comparable evidence of aircraft being involved in drug-dealing. He said out that aircraft involved in rendition might well be carrying shackles and other equipment that would be revealed in a police search even if no prisoners were aboard the aircraft. It was pointed out that the Scottish Trades Union had unanimously passed a resolution calling for action over rendition flights at this year's annual conference.

People attending the meeting were urged to press their MSPs to support a motion recently tabled in the Scottish Parliament by Frances Curran MSP (SSP) asking " the UK Government to act to uphold the human rights of all those detained in Guantanamo Bay and, in particular, those whose normal place of residence is the United Kingdom."

There will be a further (attempted) screening of the film "Outlawed" in Dundee on Wednesday 6 December. The meeting is being hosted by Dundee Trades Union Council with support from Scotland Against Criminalising Communities and will be held at 7.45pm in Committee Room 4, 14 City Square, Dundee.

A briefing distibuted to attendees at the Edinburgh meeting can be downloaded at www.sacc.org. uk/sacc/docs/ briefing161106. pdf

Jamil El-Banna's sons Anas (10) and Mohammed (9) started off the meeting by reading out a letter that Anas had written and a poem by Mohammed. Jamil El-Banna's MP Sarah Teather then spoke of her campaign to have her constituent released. She asserted that Jamil poses no threat to the United Kingdom and there is no security reason for the British government to block his return to this country in spite of the US's demanded security requirements.

Other speakers included Yvonne Ridley, Political Editor at the Islam Channel, Asim Qureshi from Cageprisoners and Zachary Katznelson from Reprieve, a legal charity representing 38 Guantanamo prisoners, including all the British residents. Zachary recently returned to the UK from Guantanamo where he met both Jamil and Bisher. Concerning their situation, he said that Bisher El-Rawi is currently being held in Camp 5 which is the maximum security wing as he is refusing to cooperate with the American military authorities anymore. Jamil El-Banna is currently being held in medium security conditions where he has greater freedom of movement and can speak to other prisoners at times. The fact that last month Jamil was able to speak to his wife in London during a one hour phone call, on humanitarian grounds following the death of his mother, is both unprecedented and proves that he is not considered a threat.

Representatives from Amnesty International and CAMPACC also spoke and answered questions. Statements were read out on behalf of Sabah El-Banna, Jamil's wife, Jahida Sayyadi, Bisher's mother and Amani Deghayes, the sister of Omar Deghayes, a British resident from Brighton. Approximately forty people attended the meeting which was rather upbeat and positive. The London Guantanamo Campaign is holding its next monthly meeting, on Wednesday 22 November, at 7-9pm at the same venue (Pakistani Community Centre, Marley Walk, Off Station Parade, NW2) to discuss events to mark the fifth anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo in January. Please come and join us.

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Moazzam Begg will be speaking at the meeting organised by Stop the War coalition for Wednesday the 30th August 7.00 p.m at the Naseby Centre, Naseby Road off Alum Rock Road. John Rees, member of Stop the War national committee, will be joining him to discuss the impact of Bush and Blair's war on terror on the communities in Birmingham and on the wider world.  Click Here For Details 

The family of Omar Deghayes attended the court while several demonstrators from Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign, members of Amnesty and supporters from London held a demonstration outside the courts to show their support and solidarity for the families of the detainees held at Guantanamo. The demonstration was largely successful with the visual display outside the court drawing a lot of attention. The demonstrators spoke to many members of the public and distributed material explaining the case to the general public including tourists from the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Most of the public showed interest in the protest and the printed material the protestors were distributing. Members of the public signed petitions demanding independent public enquiry into the recent deaths of the three Guantanamo detainees.  

On the second day of the appeal hearing into the judicial review case brought by solicitors representing the families of Omar Deghayes, Jamil El-Banna and Bisher El-Rawi, Rabinder Singh QC, representing the families, finished presenting theircase at around midday. Christopher Greenwood QC, representing the government, then started his reply. He will continue presenting the British government’s case tomorrow when the appeal hearing is likely to end.

The family of Omar Deghayes attended the court today. Four demonstrators from the London Guantanamo Campaign held a demonstration outside the court to show their support for the families. The demonstration was largely successful with the visual display outside the court drawing a lot of attention. The demonstrators spoke to many members of the public interested in their protest, including tourists visiting London, among them some American soldiers; everyone the demonstrators spoke to expressed their sympathy with the plight of the three families and wished them good luck and a positive outcome to the case. Tourists and passers-by took pictures of the magnificent display outside the court, although grumpy court staff insisted that the Amnesty International banners be removed from the railings outside the court; the banners which offended no one yesterday when attached to the same railings continued to attract attention when laid out in the street. A donation was even made by a passer-by to help the demonstrators in their campaign. The message from passers-by outside the Royal Courts of Justice was unanimously one of sympathy with the families and hope that these men and their families will get justice after four long and painful years.

Shut Guantanamo Now!

International Day of Protest (Saturday 15 July 2006)

The National Guantanamo Campaign held its first national action on 15 July 2006 when it took part in the “Shut Guantanamo Now!” International Day of Protest by organising a demonstration and rally in central London. This demonstration was called for and organised urgently in response to the news on 9 June of the deaths of two young Saudi men and a Yemeni imprisoned without trial or charge at Guantanamo Bay. The National Guantanamo Campaign strongly rejects the official American line that these men “committed suicide” as an “act of asymmetrical warfare” and calls for an independent inquiry into this incident. The National Guantanamo Coalition also urges the American government and other governments to act immediately to release the remaining 430 or so prisoners known to be held there before there are any more fatalities.