Shaker Aamer and his children before his 9 years of illegal detention
There is a British resident still in Guantanamo Bay, spending time in solitary confinement and being denied his right to charge or trial. This Brit is Shaker Aamer.
Shaker is a British resident who has been held in captivity for nearly nine years with no charge or trial. He has alleged numerous cases of torture and has spent much of his time in solidarity confinement on hunger strike. When President Obama came to power he made a commitment to fully close Guantanamo; there are currently 147 inmates still there. We have to push for Obama to fulfil this promise.
There are signs that there is movement on this issue. Hague recently met with the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton to and raised this issue specifically. Hague however has to go a little further. He must:
- Push for an agreed timetable with the US authorities for Shaker Aamer’s release or trial.
- Ensure that all allegations of torture and illegal detention are fully investigated, including the possibility of any British involvement.
- Call for the complete closure of Guantanamo Bay and the use of illegal detention.
If, by the time you read this, he has not done any of the above, please write to your MP to get him to ask Hague to do all of the following. I honestly believe that if we have a strong push for his release now it can be achieved. Take action and email your MP.
For as long as Shaker Aamer remains in custody without charge or trial there is no possibility of our government drawing a line under these cases of alleged torture and illegal detention overseas.
Hynd's Blog 
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Well done for highlighting this Steve. This is perhaps the most blatant of all of America’s hypocritical actions in respect of human rights and the rule of law.
As much as the Obama administration should be ashamed for not following through on their promise to close Guantanamo, our own government should be similarly ashamed of their inability and/or unwillingness to pursue this case with Clinton and co.
Perhaps recent Wikileaks revelations about the Tories desire to cement and develop our ‘special relationship’ with the US throw some light on Cameron and Hague’s soft-peddling over Shaker Aamer. It seems that this innocent man is a sacrifice worth making for our government in their craven attempts to curry favour with Obama.
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Is there anything that can be done at eu level steve?
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Yes lot’s and lot’s!
This could is something that should be bought up in all bi-lateral negotiations, and indeed the EU has an obligation to do just that. All trade summits, foreign affairs meeting, etc needs to have this issue raised – http://www.amnesty.eu/static/6th_anniversary_statement_on_Guantanamo_Bay_on_web.pdf
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