Tag Archives: Shaker Aamer

The State of Guantanamo: 11 Years of Limbo for Shaker Aamer

February 12, 2013 at 2:21 PM
Shaker Aamer Valentine

This Valentine’s Day marks 11 years in Guantanamo for Shaker Aamer. President Obama, charge Shaker or send him home!

Valentine’s Day is almost here — a bittersweet holiday for human rights activists who have been campaigning to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. February 14th marks a tragic milestone for Shaker Aamer, one of the detainee cases Amnesty International has worked on for years now.

11 years on February 14, 2013. That’s how long Shaker Aamer has spent behind bars at Guantanamo Bay Prison, without charge, without trial – really, without hope.

Tonight President Obama will give his State of the Union address, the first of his new administration. Will he mention how he broke his promise to close Guantanamo? Will Shaker Aamer’s name come up? President Obama has been given four more years to shape a legacy worthy of his Nobel Peace Prize. But Shaker Aamer can’t wait any longer for justice.
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7 Ways for Obama to REALLY Earn that Nobel Peace Prize

January 18, 2013 at 10:01 AM
president obama

Photo: Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images

At the local level, Americans are demonstrating a strong commitment to advancing human rights. In recent elections, voters legalized marriage equality in nine states and passed the DREAM Act to expand educational opportunities for undocumented residents in Maryland. In addition, legislators in four states abolished the death penalty. The message to the nation’s leaders seems to be this: human rights still matter, and the task of “perfecting our union” remains incomplete.

As President Obama prepares to give his second inaugural address, he should embrace an ambitious rights agenda: enhancing our security without trampling on human rights; implementing a foreign policy that hold friends and foes alike accountable for human rights violations; and ensuring human rights for all in the United States without discrimination.

INCOMPLETE

Measured against international norms and his own aspirations, President Obama’s first term record on human rights merits an “incomplete.” While he made the bold move of issuing an executive order to close Guantánamo on his second day in office, he has yet to fulfill that promise. The U.S. government’s reliance on lethal drone strikes is growing steadily, but the administration has provided no clear legal justification for the program. Congress has abrogated its responsibility to exercise meaningful oversight of this most ubiquitous element of the “global war on terror,” a paradigm which is in and of itself problematic. Although President Obama has on occasion stood up for human rights defenders abroad — in China, Iran, Russia and Libya — his administration has often muted criticism when it comes to U.S. allies, in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

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4 Things We Can Do in 2013 to Close Guantanamo

January 17, 2013 at 4:44 PM
Jan 11, 2013 Guantanamo anniversary protest

© Scott Langley Photography

2013 has been a busy year at Amnesty already. From protesting torture at the Washington, DC premiere of the film Zero Dark Thirty to people across the US and around the world spending January 11 (the 11th anniversary of “war on terror” detainees arriving at Guantanamo) marching against the continued human rights violations being committed by the US government, we have some real momentum to start the new year.

We still don’t have the outcome we all want — President Obama hasn’t ended human rights violations and hasn’t kept his long-standing promise to close Guantanamo prison. But we are making progress. We know it will be a long fight, but history shows that change can happen through sustained activism. Just last week the infamous Tamms “supermax” prison in Illinois closed after years of campaigning. Guantanamo will be next!

We can’t do it without you. Here are 4 things we can do to close Guantanamo and promote human rights in 2013:

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Breaking: Congress Passes 2013 NDAA, President Obama Must Veto

December 21, 2012 at 4:02 PM

Protest at the White House against the prison at Guantanamo Today, Congress again failed to uphold the U.S. government’s obligation to respect, protect and fulfill human rights. It passed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with provisions that would gravely hinder the effort to close Guantanamo prison, and would further entrench indefinite detention.

This is unacceptable, morally and legally. And it’s a reason why Amnesty International and 28 other human rights, religious and civil liberties organizations sent a letter calling on President Obama to veto the NDAA.

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5 Reasons the Feinstein/Paul Amendment Doesn’t Fix the NDAA

November 29, 2012 at 5:09 PM
indefinite detention graphic

Click to enlarge.

There’s a new crisis unfolding in the Senate right now over the infamous indefinite military detention provisions in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  I know the effort to fix the NDAA seems to be never-ending, but it is crucial to take action once again, as the Senate is expected to vote tonight or tomorrow. The outcome is critical for human rights.

The problem:  A new amendment to the 2013 NDAA offered yesterday by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and supported by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is being touted in some quarters as sufficient to end concerns about indefinite detention. Unfortunately, that’s not true—and it could make things worse.

Here are 5 reasons Senators Feinstein and Paul should change their amendment to truly support human rights and civil liberties:

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Breaking: US Issues List of 55 Guantanamo Detainees Cleared for Transfer

September 21, 2012 at 3:08 PM
Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Politico’s Josh Gerstein reports that the Obama administration’s Department of Justice has made public for the first time a list of 55 Guantanamo detainees cleared for transfer out of the prison.

These detainees must be immediately released to countries that will respect their human rights. If the Obama administration can’t find suitable and willing countries to take them right away, then these detainees should–if they are willing–be released in the United States.

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Prisoner Cleared for Release Marks 10 Years of Captivity at Guantanamo

February 14, 2012 at 1:59 PM

Shaker AamerToday is the tenth anniversary of Shaker Aamer’s arrival at Guantanamo Bay. Even though he was cleared for release in 2007, he still languishes in a cell there today.

Shaker is a British resident of Saudi descent. He was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001 and was one of the first detainees transferred to Guantanamo when it opened in 2002.

We have seen much of the intelligence on which the US originally based its decision to hold Shaker courtesy of the WikiLeaks website.

Shaker’s Detainee Assessment Brief (DAB) revealed that the bulk of the case against him had been assembled from the testimony of other detainees at Guantanamo.

Prisoners with something to gain from cooperating with their jailers don’t make the most credible of witnesses. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

One of Guantanamo's Forgotten Prisoners

November 8, 2011 at 9:45 AM
Shaker Aamer protest in London

Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the Bush administration in 2007. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

Shaker Aamer, a former UK resident of Saudi descent, has been held without charge at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for nearly 10 years. He was cleared for release by the Bush administration in 2007 but is still inexplicably incarcerated more than four years later.

Shaker was detained by irregular Afghan forces in Jalalabad in December 2001, shortly after the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom. By his own account he had been in Afghanistan working for a Saudi charity and no compelling evidence refuting this contention has been presented.

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Kangaroos Storm DC to Close Guantanamo!

January 12, 2011 at 4:27 PM

The kangaroo photos are further down!

On January 11th, over 200 activists marched from the White House to the Department of Justice to mark the 9th anniversary of the detention facility at Guantanamo and demand an end to unfair kangaroo courts, indefinite detention and impunity for torture. The march was covered by the media, including the Washington Post and the Miami Herald.

The march was organized by Witness Against Torture, the Center for Constitutional Rights, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and Amnesty International USA. Similar demonstrations were held around the world.

In front of the Department of Justice.

Amnesty International UK and Amnesty USA are campaigning to resolve the case of Shaker Aamer, a former UK resident with a wife and children in London who has been held without charge for over 8 years.  The UK government has asked for him back–UK Foreign Secretary William Hague even raised the case with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton–but Shaker Aamer remains detained without charge and without explanation.

We are calling on the US government to either charge Shaker Aamer with a crime and give him a fair trial in US federal court, or release him. You can help resolve this case and get us one step closer to closing Guantanamo by emailing Secretary Clinton and President Obama right now.

This is when the snow started.

To help raise awareness about Shaker Aamer’s case, Amnesty USA activists are organizing events across America this month, includingscreenings of The Response, a 30-minute drama about Guantanamo starring Aasif Mandvi of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. If you’d like to organize a screening click here.

We don’t want to be out in the cold and snow again next January 11th, but if Guantanamo is still open, we’ll be there!

We love kangaroos, but kangaroo courts have got to go.

On the way to the DoJ.

Join the Close Guantanamo March in DC on Jan 11

January 5, 2011 at 10:59 AM

Join us in Washington DC on January 11th for a  march to close Guantanamo! We’ll gather at the White House at 11AM for some short speeches and then march to the Department of Justice.

We’ll have orange jumpsuits for people to wear, “No Kangaroo Courts at Guantanamo” signs, and banners urging the government to either charge or release detainees, including Shaker Aamer, who has been held without charge over 8 years, despite the UK government requesting his return.

Speakers at the rally will include: Tom Parker , Amnesty International USA’s advocacy and policy director of terrorism, counterterrorism and human rights, Valerie Lucznikowska, September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, historian Andy Worthington, Pardiss Kebriaei, staff attorney, the Center for Constitutional Rights representing Guantanamo detainees and Frida Berrigan, Witness Against Torture.

Why January 11? It’s the 9th anniversary of detainees arriving at Guantanamo to face torture, indefinite detention and unfair military commission “trials”–seen around the world as kangaroo courts.

EVENT:          Rally to Close Guantanamo Bay Prison

DATE:            Tuesday, January 11, 2011

TIME:             11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

WHERE:         In front of the White House, Washington, DC

MORE INFO:   ctwj@aiusa.org