Close Guantanamo Bay - background

On 11 January 2002, the US authorities transported the first of over 750 prisoners to the military prison camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
There are still several hundred prisoners held there. Not a single detainee has yet been put on trial and the only trials in prospect are unfair 'military commission' tribunals that can use information gained from torture and impose the death penalty.

Amnesty International is calling for the camp to be closed and for all allegations of torture and mistreatment to be independently investigated. Meanwhile if there is any real evidence of wrongdoing by any of the detainees,then they should be put on trial before civilian courts on the US mainland.

By setting a dire example to other countries around the world, the US has set back the cause of human rights significantly,and given those that recruit terrorists invaluable propaganda material.

Despite widespread international condemnation, hundreds of people of more than 30 nationalities are still there: without charge, and with little hope of obtaining a fair trial.

It's time that the US ended this travesty of justice.

On 7 August 2007, the UK government announced that it was intervening to request that the US authorities release and return five former UK residents to the UK – Shaker Aamer, Jamil el Banna, Omar Deghayes, Binyam Mohamed and Abdennour Sameur. A sixth man formerly resident in the UK, Ahmed Belbacha, was not included in the UK government’s request. Amnesty International fears he would be in grave danger if returned to his native Algeria.

In December three of the UK residents still held in Guantanamo Bay were released and returned to the UK. The men – Jamil el Banna, Omar Deghayes and Abdennour Sameur – were returned to the UK on 19 December. All three were detained on arrival in the UK. Abdennour Sameur was subsequently released without charge. Jamil el Banna and Omar Deghayes were released on bail pending a full hearing of a request for their extradition to Spain, following the issue of European Arrest Warrants in their names by a Spanish court.

Amnesty International welcomes the release of these three men from Guantánamo Bay, and the news that Abdennour Sameur is now a free man. Amnesty also welcomes the fact that Jamil el Banna and Omar Deghayes have been able to see their families again, after years of illegal captivity.

However there are still concerns. Three other men formerly resident in the UK - Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, Binyam Mohammed, and Ahmed Belbacha - are currently still detained in Guantánamo Bay.

Norwich Group Action on Guantanamo