Amnesty renews call for Guantanamo closure

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Amnesty International has renewed its call for the United States to close its Guantanamo Bay detention facility and try or release the prisoners held there. "The US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is condemning thousands across the world to a life of suffering, torment and stigmatisation," the London-based rights group says in a statement accompanying a new report. "Five hundred men from around 35 nationalities are detained in Guantanamo.

Dozens are currently on hunger strike and there have been numerous suicide attempts. "None of them have had the lawfulness of their detention reviewed in a court of law." Amnesty Americas program director Susan Lee says "despite widespread international condemnation, the US authorities continue in their attempts to strip all detainees of their right to challenge their detention in US courts". The rights group demanded that the US administration publish a list of all "war on terror" detainees being held at Guantanamo and elsewhere, and try or release the prisoners.

Abuse complaints
citing complaints from inmates of mistreatment and abuse, Amnesty also appealed to Washington to "close Guantanamo and open up all US detention facilities to independent scrutiny" and to investigate allegations of torture.
It says the force-feeding of inmates on hunger strike, if it was done in a way that deliberately caused suffering, could constitute "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". The report quoted one inmate, Fawzi al-Odah, describing how he was force-fed through a nasal tube. "The nurse shoved a tube up my nose so quickly that I began choking, bleeding from the nose and spitting blood. They used no anaesthetic," he was quoted as saying.

Families
Amnesty also said the families of detainees were not being given basic information about their loved ones.
Many of those prisoners who had been released or transferred from Guantanamo had faced "continued harassment, arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment" in other places. A US federal judge last month ordered the government to release the identities of hundreds of Guantanamo detainees, rejecting arguments that this might put their families in danger. The government is expected to appeal. US President George W Bush insisted last month the prisoners were being treated "humanely". "Guantanamo is a necessary part of protecting the American people and so long as the war on terror goes on, and so long as there's a threat, we will inevitably need to hold people that would do ourselves harm," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1563117.htm

[pinto]

1. Yes. Thank you, Amnesty International, for keeping this in view.

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2. More from the Scotsman:Body calls for UK detainees return

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Its UK Director Kate Allen said: "The UK government's reluctance to act on behalf of long-term residents of this country is itself shameful and must change. These men have become forgotten prisoners.
"After four years Guantanamo has become a byword for abuse and an indictment of the US government's failure to uphold human rights in the war on terror.

(snip)
No British nationals are currently detained there but the charity believes nine have previously been resident in the UK and some of those have relatives here. Amnesty, which has published a report on the impact of long term detention on prisoners and their relatives, claims more than 500 people are still being held and again called for the closure of the prison camp at the US naval base in Cuba.

(snip)
The British Government says it cannot represent those who chose not to seek British citizenship.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=187282006
what a bunch of crap, Hicks asked for citizenship and was denied

[Judi Lynn]

3. Plea for UK residents held by US

Last Updated: Monday, 6 February 2006, 00:01 GMT

Plea for UK residents held by US

Human rights group Amnesty has renewed calls for long-term British residents detained in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be released.

It claims nine detainees have been UK residents, although no UK nationals are now held at the US naval base.

The British Government has said it cannot represent people who choose not to seek British citizenship.

But Amnesty, highlighting the case of a Brighton man held since 2002, said the reluctance to act was shameful.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4683564.stm