Once upon a time on a small island off the coast of Cuba…
…Or more precisely in 2002, a detainment camp was set up to hold al-Qaeda and Taliban terror suspects. Since its opening, Guantanamo Bay has been famous for flouting the rules of the Geneva Convention with torture, water boarding and awful human rights violations a part of day to day life for the detainees.
Some 779 prisoners have been held in Guantanamo Bay against their will even after being cleared of any charges. Many of the legal challenges against this continued detention have been led by Reprieve, an organisation dedicated to “delivering justice and saving lives, from death row to Guantánamo Bay”.
During the last few years Reprieve have secured the release of 65 inmates from Guantanamo, including two British Citizens. This leaves just one remaining British Citizen: Shaker Aamer.
Shaker Aamer continues to be held in Guantanamo Bay, despite never being charged with a crime or given a trial for 11 years. He has been cleared for release yet is still being kept there and subjected to extended isolation and abuse.
Shaker is a British citizen with a wife and four children, one of whom he has never met before. His family has had to live without a father, a husband, a son, whilst knowing he has been locked up as an innocent man in one of the most notorious prisons in the world.
In 2005, Shaker went on hunger strike with 300 other prisoners, after another prisoner had been beaten during his prayer time. As a result, he was thrown into solitary confinement; a room 6ft by 8ft with no windows that he still inhabits to this day. These injustices have received a lot of attention from the public and press alike, who have continued to fight for the release of Shaker Aamer with rallies, petitions and events.
Tomorrow will see a Free Shaker Aamer rally held outside Westminster at 9am, before an open parliamentary debate begins on his case at 11am. Please join them. More details here.
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