sign a letter to obama: charge and try shaker aamer or release him

We hear about so many human-rights abuses and outrages around the world, that it's easy to become numb. But think of this. A man held in a prison camp for 10 years - the last five in solitary confinment* - without ever being charged with a crime. Right in our own backyard.

Shaker Aamer, a Saudi citizen and legal UK resident, has been held in the Guantánamo Bay prison camp for 10 years. He was cleared for release in 2007, and the UK has asked for his repatriation. And yet... nothing. The rogue state knows no morals and heeds no laws.

Amnesty International is using an upcoming meeting between UK Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama to try to get Aamer's release on the agenda.

Go here to sign a letter demanding Shaker Aamer be either tried or released.

From The Guardian Observer:

This month marks 10 years since the first detainees were taken to Guantánamo Bay, the notorious US Navy-run detention centre in Cuba.

One of those still being held there is Shaker Aamer, a 45-year-old former UK resident whose family live in south London. In February he will have spent 10 years in prison without charge or trial.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, Aamer is married to a British citizen and moved to London in 1996, where he worked as an Arabic translator for a firm of solicitors who specialise in immigration cases. Given indefinite leave to remain in the UK, he is the father of four children but has never met his youngest son, who was born after his imprisonment.

In 2001, after travelling to Afghanistan to undertake voluntary work, he was detained by Afghan forces and held at the US military prison at Bagram, among other places. Later he was transferred to US custody, and then taken to Guantánamo.

At Guantánamo Bay, Aamer has been involved in protests against conditions at the camp, including hunger strikes, and has spent much of his time in solitary confinement. He alleges that he has been subject to torture, both before his arrival and while there, describing one instance when he says he was left alone in an interrogation room with a gun, after days of sleep deprivation and beatings.

The UK government has repeatedly asked for him to be returned to his wife and children in the UK. The US government is obliged to either bring criminal charges against Shaker Aamer and give him a fair trial, or release him. Sign a petition calling for the closure of Guantánamo, and write a letter for Shaker Aamer, here.

Sign the letter here.


* Long-term solitary confinement is a form of torture.