Gitmo captive launches Twitter campaign to shut down US military prison

A detainee in the Guantanamo prison has launched a Twitter campaign through his lawyer with the goal of pressuring US President Barack Obama to close the infamous detention facility.

The attorney for Shaker Aamer, a Saudi citizen who was a long-time resident in Britain, posted his demand for Guantanamo’s shutdown on Twitter Tuesday.

His Twitter message urges everyone to ask the US Embassy in London to demand action on the Guantanamo Bay military detention and torture camp. His message has reportedly gotten hundreds of reTweets so far.

Aamer is among the 130 Guantanamo detainees who have been on hunger strike for a hundred and seven days now to protest abusive treatment by military guards as well as their indefinite detention without charges or a legal trial.

Aamer is also one of the more than 60 Guantanamo captives that have remained in prison despite being cleared for release.

During his time under US military’s detention in Afghanistan as well as at Guantanamo, Aamer has been subjected to “horrific torture,” according to a website created to campaign for his release.

“Abuses suffered by Shaker Aamer in US detention include but are not limited to: beatings, lengthy interrogations, exposure to extreme cold, sensory deprivation, stress positions, white noise, sleep deprivation, long-term solitary confinement and forced feeding,” says the website.

Aamer’s British wife and his four children still reside in Britain.

The forced feeding of hunger strikers at the notorious US military camp in Cuba has been condemned by the United Nations as torture and described as an extremely painful practice by inmates that have undergone the procedure.

A recent report revealed that the final decision regarding who will be forced fed at Guantanamo is left up to the prison camp’s commander rather than a medical specialist, noting that it is selectively administered as a punishment measure on those who remain on hunger strike.

Meanwhile, a US daily reported this week that President Barack Obama plans to deliver a speech on Thursday to clarify his administration’s policy on the Guantanamo military prison as well as the controversial targeted killing campaign and the use of assassination drones.

Most of the Guantanamo inmates have been picked up by American military forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the aftermath of the US-led occupation of Afghanistan under the pretext of removing the Saudi- and Pakistani-backed Taliban regime and bringing stability to the country.