The London Guantánamo Campaign held its ninth monthly meeting on Thursday 25 January 2007 at 7-9pm at the Pakistani Community Centre in Willesden Green, northwest London . The meeting was attended by 4 people.
GUANTANAMO NEWS:
There has been no recent news about the British residents in Guantánamo, however a ruling is expected from the House of Lords in the coming months in the case of the families of Jamil El-Banna and Omar Deghayes in their application for a judicial review.
The week of the fifth anniversary of the opening of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay kicked off on 7 January 2007 with a front page news story focusing on Bisher El-Rawi’s appalling treatment and detention conditions in the Independent on Sunday http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2132551.ece Mr El-Rawi is being held in Camp V where he is held in solitary isolation and has been subject to sensory deprivation. The story claims that he is in a very fragile mental state. For many of the lawyers representing Guantánamo detainees, this is their main concern, that after 5 years of detention without trial or charge apparent end in sight, without access to their families and torture, many of these men have become or are close to madness.
Subsequently, on Monday 8 January, Mr El-Rawi’s MP, Edward Davey (Kingston & Surbiton, Lib Dem) held a debate about Mr El-Rawi’s condition and what action the government has taken and can take since it made representations for his release last spring. (A transcript of the debate: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2007-01-08c.115.0)
 On Wednesday 10 January, a candlelight vigil was held opposite Downing Street , calling on the British government to act to bring the British residents home. The action was organised by Sarah Teather MP with the London Guantánamo Campaign and Amnesty International. Two hundred people attended on a cold night and the silent vigil kicked off with Anas El-Banna, Jamil El-Banna’s ten year old son, reading out his fourth letter to the PM. The vigil was attended by several MPs including Sarah Teather, Edward Davey and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell. MPs from other parties also attended. Members of the families of Bisher El-Rawi, Jamil El-Banna and Abdelnour Sameur also attended. This video clip is a good overview of the action: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/01/359961.html
 On Thursday 11 January, actions were organised all over the world to condemn the continuing imprisonment of over 350 men at Guantánamo Bay . Actions in the UK included an Amnesty International demonstration outside the US Embassy in London at 11am. Over 300 people dressed up in orange jumpsuits and were harassed by “military guards” for well over half an hour as the international press watched on. The action was visually stunning:
Anas El-Banna went to Downing Street again on 11 January and delivered his letter to the PM. This time he received a prompt reply...that his letter had been forwarded to the Foreign Office! Sarah Teather MP accompanying him handed in the Justice for Dad petition, signed by almost 1500 people, calling for the release of Jamil El-Banna.
London Catholic Worker also held a demonstration outside the US Embassy at 4pm in protest at the continuing detention without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay ; this action coincided with an action being held in Washington DC at the same time.
The National Guantánamo Coalition held an action in Birmingham outside the Hiatt’s factory; this is the company that manufactures and supplies shackles to the US military that are used in Guantánamo. Over 80 people attended this action, including Dr David Nicholls and Abu Bakr Deghayes, Omar Deghayes’ brother. A cake was delivered to the factory but they refused to accept it and refused to respond to the protesters. http://www.guantanamo.org.uk/content/view/87/37/
A protest was also held outside the American Consulate in Edinburgh and a meeting was held in the Scottish Parliament.
Other actions were held in other parts of the UK and worldwide, leading in large part to an attack on the lawyers representing the Guantánamo detainees by Mr Cully Stimson, a Pentagon lawyer, on the very same day of the anniversary, attacking their credibility and professionalism. In a radio interview in the US , he called on large corporations to reconsider working with the firms that employ them. Clearly the actions held all around the world and the international outcry against this injustice have had some effect…
On 21 January, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, an all-party committee of MPs who visited Guantánamo in September 2006, published a report into their findings (to read the report: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmfaff/44/4402.htm). While the report recommended that Guantánamo Bay be shut down, it reported that no torture had been practiced there recently and that conditions were fine overall. The MPs had gone on a “guided tour” of Guantánamo and did not meet any of the detainees. The report was heavily criticized by several MPs and Amnesty International in particular. Previously, the UN Special Rapporteur had refused to visit Guantánamo if he was to be given this same “tour”.
In other news, in a surprising move, some Middle Eastern countries have started asking for their nationals back.
UPCOMING LGC ACTIVITIES:
The London Guantánamo Campaign will start holding weekly demonstrations outside the American Embassy in Mayfair . Building on the impetus on the actions earlier this month, weekly demonstrations will be held on Fridays at 6-7pm. Please feel free to bring your banners and your groups. The first demonstration will take place on Friday 9 February. More details will be made available in the next few days. Watch this space.
|
London Campaign 
