Tag Archives: Binyam mohamed

Money requested for new prison at Guantanamo

Posted on by
Reply

HandcuffStillCU

Too many times have we heard about Obama’s promise to close down Guantanamo bay. Still nothing has happened. For too many years have hundreds of men been held in the prison, most of them for no reason at all. What is even more fascinating is that more money have been requested for a new prison at Guantanamo, some of the money is rumored to go to a new camp 7.

Why build a new prison if you are going to close it down? Why still keep prisoners who are cleared for release in Guantanamo? For me it seems like the US government are just coming up with new excuses to avoid closing Guantanamo, avoid taking consequences for their actions at the prison and avoid letting the truth about the torture that the prisoners have subjected to to reach the public.

The hunger strike is still going on at the prison. Guards have confiscated the prisoner’s Korans and other personal items. They have also been disrespectful during praying time.The only way the detainees can protest is by refusing to eat. Why is it so hard to respect people’s religion and how can the world just stand and watch these men being treated like they are worth nothing?

And other question that I hope we will get answered soon is, what is going to happen to Shaker Aamer? Will he ever be able to seet his family again or is he going to spend the rest of his life in a prison, even if he has been cleared for release twice?

Order Spectacle’s DVDs  Shaker Aamer: a decade of injustice ( New Version) and  Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project  and Shaker Aamer project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

Shaker Aamer Awareness Week

Posted on by
Reply

This week is the Shaker Aamer awareness week and with a massive hunger strike going on at Guantanamo, the media are paying extra attention to the easily forgotten detainees at the prison. Even though the U.S government are pretending that the hunger-strike does not exist, there has been a renewed focus on Shaker, the last British resident in Guantanamo.

Shaker Aamer, who has been cleared for release both under President Bush and President Obama, has been in the prison for 11 years. Shaker’s family have launched an e-petition that needs 100,000 signatures before the 20th of April 2013 to be eligible for a Parliamentary debate about how the UK government can ensure Shaker Aamer’s return to his wife and four children in Wandsworth South London.

This week there are a variety of events to alert people to the awful things that happen at Guantanamo, to remind people about Shaker Aamer and to encourage them to sign the e-petition.

For more information about the different events please visit:

Shaker Aamer awareness week
Save Shaker
Andy Worthington

Order Spectacle’s DVDs  Shaker Aamer: a decade of injustice ( New Version) and  Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project  and Shaker Aamer project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

Shaker Aamer-11 years in Guantánamo

Posted on by
Reply

Today is the 11th anniversary of Shaker Aamer’s detention in Guantánamo. He has been detained without trial and has been approved for release twice, but he still remains in Guantánamo. So today, when most of us celebrate valentines day, Shaker Aamer and his family have been away from each other for 11 years.

Please help Shaker Aamer to get out of this injustice by signing the e-petition to the British Government calling for his immediate release. Let him reunite with his wife and four children, one of whom he has never met.

Order Spectacle’s DVDs  Shaker Aamer: a decade of injustice ( New Version) and  Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project  and Shaker Aamer project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

Shaker Aamer, the bitter face of Saint Valentine’s Day

Posted on by
Reply

The 14th of February is known for being the day of the love. However, for Shaker Aamer this date commemorates his imprisonment in Guantanamo. Eleven years being far from his wife and children, without having had a trial or any charges brought against him.

As an act of ‘love’ this 14th of February sign the e-petition to the British Government calling for the immediate release of Shaker Aamer.

 

If you want to know more about Shaker Aamer’s story watch our documentary: ‘Shaker Aamer: A decade of injustice’

 

Order Spectacle’s DVDs  Shaker Aamer: a decade of injustice ( New Version) and  Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project  and Shaker Aamer project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

 

Is Guantánamo still closing down?

Posted on by
Reply

President Obama recently spoke about the different promises and “journeys” he wants to complete during his time as a president. He put a special emphasis on gay rights and how the journey was not complete until gay men and women are treated the same as anyone else under the law.

Of course we also support gay rights, we can’t help but wonder why he failed to mention anything about the closing of Guantánamo. Does this mean that the UK resident Shaker Aamer, imprisoned uncharged and untried in Guantánamo for almost 11 years, has to stay in prison even longer?

Was the non-mentioning of Guantánamo an honest mistake by the President or is there another reason behind it?

Order Spectacle’s DVDs  Shaker Aamer: a decade of injustice ( New Version) and  Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project  and Shaker Aamer project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

 

London Guantanamo Campaign, 11 January 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Invitation to Journalists/Filmmakers/Photographers:

The London Guantanamo Campaign will mark the 11th anniversary of the opening of the US-run prison camp at Guantanamo Bay with a day-long action entitled “All Roads Lead to Guantanamo”. It will take in a series of “tours” recounting the journeys of various prisoners to the prison camp, culminating in a candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy at 6pm that evening.

The “tours” will take place in the afternoon and will involve groups of individuals travelling between the embassies of the various countries involved in the journey of a prisoner to Guantanamo Bay (for example, capture in Pakistan, imprisonment in Egypt and then Afghanistan, rendition to Guantanamo via Portugal) with “smart mob” actions outside each of the embassies. While tour routes will be communicated to those taking part in them prior to the tour, the timings – like the journeys of the prisoners – will remain secret and will only be communicated via social media (Facebook/Twitter) shortly before the tour stop itself.

An important aspect of the daytime action is citizen journalism and allowing those who cannot take part to get involved in the journey via social media and live streaming. To this end, people are invited to embed themselves in one of these tours.

If you would be interested in joining a “tour”, a list of “operating” tours, detailing their start time and approximate total time, can be provided. Each tour will follow the route of a separate prisoner and will be unique in nature, depending on how the tour guide and group wish to proceed (they may choose to incorporate street theater/ visual action, etc.) You will be put in touch with the tour guide of that tour to become a part of that team and cover the tour as it proceeds on the day, as well as help to suggest how it should proceed, if you so wish. More than one media worker may cover one tour.

You would then receive help publicising any films/photographs/reports, etc. you produce.

For more information on this action: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk/#!/2012/11/all-roads-lead-to-guantanamo-bayon-11th.htmland see the promotional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzhe9BnrGIk&feature=plcp The action can also be followed on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AllRoadsLeadToGuantanamo and Twitter @allroadsleadG11

For further information, you can contact the coordinator, Aisha Maniar, by e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com or call 07809 757 176.

london.gtmo@gmail.com

londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com

Order Spectacle’s DVDs  Shaker Aamer: a decade of injustice ( New Version) and  Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project  and Shaker Aamer project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

The Latest Photo Released of Shaker Aamer

Posted on by
Reply

The above photo of Shaker Aamer is the latest of him to be released under the authority of the American military. It is somewhat unusual when you consider that he is approaching eleven years in Guantanamo Bay having never had a trial. For that reason it seems surprising that no great controversy has been fueled. However, in his article Guantanamo expert Andy Worthington expresses his delight at the photo and points out the joy of Aamer’s family. They must therefore see it as symbolic of his positive spirit despite what he has had to endure.

It will no doubt reignite interest in the question of just when will Shaker Aamer be released following what has now been over a decade of injustice. The following quotes from a recent Independent article highlight some of the latest progress for the campaign to secure his release

He will be interviewed in the next couple of weeks, The Independent on Sunday has learnt, by a team from the Metropolitan Police, who will also question him in relation to the claims by a former detainee, Binyam Mohamed, that he too was tortured.

 

News of Mr Aamer’s planned interview with police came as lawyers prepared to file a motion saying his indefinite detention without being produced in court amounts to torture. Irene Nembhard, of Birnberg Peirce and Partners, said: “That is established in international law. The Brits should be saying that his detention amounts to torture and if he is not released they should make a complaint under the United Nations Convention against Torture. It is patently clear British diplomacy has failed. Consequently, they have to think of something else to do.

Please feel free to contribute your thoughts on the latest photo of Shaker Aamer

Please sign the petition for his release

Order Spectacle’s DVDs Shaker Amer: a decade of injustice and Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Like Spectacle Documentaries on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

Gibson Detainee Inquiry to go ahead but key witness still in Guantanamo.

Posted on by
Reply

Shaker Aamer was detained in Bagram 2002 - a period under investigation by the Gibson inquiry into detainee torture by British agents.

The panel leading the Gibson inquiry into the government’s involvement in torture since 2001 has claimed it will go ahead despite NGOs and lawyers required for the inquiry rejecting its protocol due to a breech of Human Rights law. Though many expect very little in the way of justice resulting from the inquiry, it should remind us that the issue of torture is far from being a thing of the past.

Organisations such as Amnesty International, Liberty and Human Rights Watch refused to take part in the independent inquiry due to the lack of ‘credibility or transparency’. In a letter to the Inquiry panel, 10 non-governmental organisations claim that the protocol for the inquiry ‘would not comply with Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights’ – the absolute ban on torture. Once more, former detainees requested for testimony will not be allowed to hear the key evidence as this will be discussed in secret sessions leading lawyers of the detainees to also pull out of the inquiry.

One such detainee, Shaker Aamer, could be called as a witness to MI5 and 6 complicity into torture in Bagram 2002. However Shaker is currently still being held in Guantanamo Bay detention facility where he claims he also suffers torture at the hands of American security companies and officials. The British government will have to obtain permission from the American security services in order to interview Shaker inside Guantanamo, a fact that has also cast doubt on the ability of the inquiry. Shaker was given clearance for release by the United States in 2007 and his continued detention has led some to think he may have key evidence against the British government’s actions that could be exposed through the Gibson inquiry.

In December 2011, Shaker will have remained in American custody for 10 years without charge or trial. As a British resident with a British wife and children living in London, the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign believe he deserves British protection and call upon the government to secure his release. Spectacle Productions are working on a documentary on Shaker’s story following on from their film Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo  which has been screened across the UK and distributed in the USA. The London Guantanamo Campaign will be holding a protest outside the U.S embassy on Friday 2nd September from midday to call for the release of Shaker and over 100 other detainees still held in Guantanamo. Spectacle will be joining them to document this continued struggle to end torture, extraordinary rendition and other illegal practices conducted by US and UK forces. Get in touch with the London Guantamo Campaign if you would like to attend.

Order Spectacle’s DVD Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Befriend Spectacle.Docs on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

 

England’s Guantanamo?

Posted on by
Reply

Save Shaker Aamer campaigner at the US embassy.

Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, highlighted serious concerns of terror suspects being held indefinitely in his report on HMP Long Lartin. The report noted that two men had been held for more than 11 years in what Hardwick describes as a ‘legal limbo’.

The report reiterated that “We have previously raised concerns about holding a small number of detainees, who already inhabit a kind of legal limbo, in a severely restricted environment for a potentially indefinite period.”  However, although the prison had made some changes the recent unannounced inspection revealed that this had not made enough of an impact.

Ultimately the report concedes “The risks to the mental and physical health of detainees of such lengthy, ill-defined and isolated confinement are significant.” In addition the extra restrictions imposed on their movement only compounds the impact of detention without time-limit. HM Prison service will not appreciate the  comparison to Guatanamo Bay detention facility where Shaker Aamer, a British resident, still remains after eight years detained without charge or release date along with hundreds of others. The issue of torture at such facilities abroad (soon to be publicly discussed in the Metropolitan Police Inquiry into torture at Bagram prison) has revealed the disregard of the United States for international law when it suits.

Physical torture may not happening at Long Lartin but doctors at Medical Justice who document the physical and mental health of immigration detainees liken detention without time limit to mental torture. As long as the prison service continues their ‘war on terror’ with measures defying habeous corpus the basic human rights which the British government purport all over the world seem blindingly hypocritical.

Please join the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign

Watch video- Omar Deghayes, former Guantanamo Bay detainee, describes his interrogation by British Intelligence agent, “Andrew”, and others (MI5 and MI6) while held illegally in Pakistan.

Order Spectacle’s DVD Outside The Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Click Guantánamo for more blogs
Or visit our Guantánamo project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Befriend Spectacle.Docs on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter

Bradford screenings – Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo

Posted on by
Reply

As part of the Bradford International Film Festival, Cineworld at the Bradford Leisure Exchange will be hosting two screenings of the new Spectacle documentary, Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo on the 26th and 27th of March.

The March 26th viewing will also host a panel discussion of the project with filmmakers Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, along with former detainees Moazzam Begg and Omar Deghayes following the screening.

Outside the Law offers a powerful and personal insight into the claims that Guantánamo holds “the worst of the worst” and how those detained as “illegal enemy combatants” were given no chance to defend themselves and, even worse, given no rights whatsoever.

Information and tickets are available online as are DVD purchases

Click Guantánamo for more blogs or visit our Guantánamo project pages for more information and videos.

Spectacle homepage
Befriend Spectacle.Docs on Facebook
Follow SpectacleMedia on Twitter