Last Briton at Gitmo joins hunger strike to protest mistreatment of Holy Qur’an
The last Briton held at U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has joined a hunger strike in protest against the mistreatment of copies of The Holy Qur’an by U.S. troops there.
According to his lawyer, Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national with UK citizenship, is in a hunger strike in protest at the appalling conditions he and his fellow inmates are subjected to, as well as the U.S. troops’ mistreatment of The Holy Qur’an at the illegal detention center.
Aamer has been held by the U.S. without charge or trial for over 11 years, despite having been cleared for release in 2007, said his legal representative Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith.
The Gitmo detainees have begun a hunger strike since February 7 over a worsening of their treatment at the camp.
Lawyers for the Guantanamo inmates estimated that around 130 of the 166 men still held in the U.S. gulag have joined the hunger strike, with some on strike for up to 50 days.
In a legal declaration filed by Stafford Smith, Aamer also recounted being subjected to sleep deprivation and violent assaults known as “forcible cell extractions” while attempting to pray.
He said these procedures were “excruciatingly painful,” due to long-term back injuries originally caused by Aamer’s mistreatment at Bagram air force base in Afghanistan.
“The ongoing detention without charge or trial of these men is an affront to basic principles of justice. Shaker has a wife and four British kids – one of whom he’s never met – in London”, said Stafford Smith.
“The UK just accepts routine assurances from the U.S. that all is well, when all is rotten in Guantanamo Bay”, he added.
“Does the UK really take the position that there is nothing more that can be done if a close ally is committing the ongoing torture of Shaker Aamer?”, Stafford Smith asked.
Save Shaker Aamer Campaign chairwoman Joy Hurcombe said: “The Guantanamo hunger strike is a brave and desperate act by the prisoners who have nothing to lose but their lives.
“They have been abused, tortured and forgotten by the world. Their demands are for justice and an end to the brutal conditions and daily acts of cruelty.
“President Obama promised to close this evil place and years are passing without an end to their terrible plight. The prisoners – 86 of whom have been cleared for release – would prefer to die than to carry on living without hope.
“We call on the UK government to act with extreme urgency.
“Bring Shaker Aamer home now, before it is all too late”, she stressed.
Save Shaker Aamer Campaign has launched an epetition aimed at triggering a parliamentary debate.
