The remaining British detainee in the Guantanamo Bay prison is on a hunger strike and says he is being treated inhumanely. (PLEASE WRITE the DOJ!)
Shaker Aamer has been held at the US prison in Cuba for almost 10 years. He was cleared for release in 2007 when the Bush administration acknowledged it had no evidence against him.
The British government continues to press for his release.
Mr Aamer wants to be freed or sent for a “just and public” trial.
He was born in Saudi Arabia but has British residency, and his wife and two children live in London.
‘Years of hardship’
BBC Radio 5 live’s Victoria Derbyshire programme has obtained a letter, written and signed by eight detainees including Mr Aamer, alleging that they have been treated inhumanely during his detention.
In the letter, he describes himself, and fellow detainees, as “hostages.”
He adds: “Inhumane treatment is taking place at the hospital among other areas, especially affecting the sick and those who are on (hunger) strike and our deprivation of real treatment, health, diet and appropriate clothing which are not provided to us, nor we are allowed to provide them for ourselves.”
The letter concludes: “After these years of hardship that we have spent here – we want you to consider our cases as soon as possible and give us the right to a just and a public trial or set us free without conditions.”
Responding to the letter, Col Donnie Thomas, the Joint Detention Group Commander – the senior military policeman in charge of all the camps – told the BBC: “It is totally false. I take my mission very seriously. In 19 months here, that is my mission. These detainees are treated with the highest dignity and respect and humanity.”
Mr Aamer was captured in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in December 2001. He was flown to Guantanamo in February 2002 and is one of 172 untried inmates.
First please let me express my deep gratitude – Jazak’Allah Khair, May God Bless You to those of you who have donated! Your generosity is very much appreciated!
freedetainees.org is in need of your patronage – that is, month to month donations to keep the site going. I realize that people say this a lot when they need funds, but this is absolutely true, and I am happy to show the invoices to anyone who asks. I am also willing to send receipts from exactly where your donations go so that you can be sure that it is used properly. No amount is too small – anything at all will help. If only 10% of the people who read this send $5.00 it will absolutely take care of this. Please consider helping in the cause of our brothers and sisters in bondage.
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Please let me know if it’s alright to list your name as a donator in a thank you post. Thank you and God Bless!
Please, for God’s sake – watch these videos………….. then please go sign the petition! This could be YOUR father, brother, uncle, son… Shaker Aamer is a gentle intelligent man.. a very special man. He is now suffering physical problems due to the conditions he is held in – in long term solitary confinement! His treatment is abhorrent! Treating an animal this way is illegal in the US – yet we are treating this beautiful human being like this! May God forgive us! May God save Shaker! Ameen…. SIGN the petition HERE! After that, see the bottom of this post for a message to send to your email contacts and other ideas to help!! Bless you!
FD Editor’s Note: I’ll bet the prosecutors are climbing the walls now. I’m sure they expected the families of the 9/11 victims to want the death penalty. I wonder if they brought any families of the Muslim victims of 9/11?
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other defendants were arraigned on charges that include terrorism and murder
The husband of a 9/11 victim who was among the handful of relatives at Guantanamo Bay for the arraignment of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other alleged terrorists says the accused murderers should not be put to death if convicted.
Blake Allison won one of 10 lottery tickets available for relatives of 9/11 victims who wanted to see their loved ones’ accused killers formally arraigned on terrorism, conspiracy and other charges last weekend, reports The New York Post.
His wife, Anna, was a software consultant en route to visit a client in Los Angeles and was on board American Airlines flight 11. She was 48.
Allison told friends and family he wanted to go to Guantanamo Bay to “see the faces of the people accused of murdering my wife,” reports the Post. While there, the 62-year-old ended up meeting with the lawyers of the accused, offering to testify against the death penalty should a military commission convict them of capital charges, according to the paper.
Press Release: Palestinian Centre For Human Rights
Urgent Statement
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights –
The International Federation For Human Rights (FIDH) Strongly Denounces The Situation Of Palestinian Prisoners In Israel
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the occasion of its international board meeting in Paris on May 12th 2012, strongly denounces the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, who have been on hunger strike since April 17th 2012 in protest against administrative detention, as well as living conditions and ill-treatment in the prisons.
FIDH is particularly worried about the deteriorating health situation of Mr. Bilal Diab and Mr. Tha’er Halahleh as a result of their hunger strike and ill-treatment, and fears for the safety of their lives. Last week, Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected these detainees’ appeal to be released from administrative detention. This decision comes despite the reports by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) that Diab and Halahleh’s lives are in imminent danger as they have been on hunger strike for more than 72 days.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners agreed to halt a weeks long hunger strike on Monday in exchange for promises of better conditions, ending a standoff that left several participants clinging to life and drew thousands of Palestinians to the streets in shows of solidarity.
The Palestinians won key concessions in a deal mediated by Egyptian officials, including more family visits and limits to a controversial Israeli policy that can imprison people for years without charge. In return, Israel extracted pledges by militant groups to halt violent activities, and prevented the potentially explosive scenario of prisoners dying of hunger.
The fate of the prisoners deeply emotional for Palestinians, where nearly everyone has a neighbor or relative who has spent time in an Israeli jail. Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip each day to show solidarity with the inmates, often holding pictures of their imprisoned loved ones.
In Gaza City, Palestinians cried for joy and praised God over blaring loudspeakers upon news of the deal. “God is Great! To God is our thanks!” they chanted. Thousands waved the colorful Palestinian flag, distributed sweets and prostrated themselves in thanks. The deal ended one of the largest mass strikes of Palestinian prisoners. Two men launched the strike on Feb. 28, refusing food for 77 days, becoming the longest ever Palestinian hunger strikers. At least 1,600 other Palestinian prisoners, more than a third of the prison population, joined the strike on April 17, fasting for 27 days.
With the Palestinians already planning mass demonstrations for their annual day of mourning on Tuesday, both sides were eager to reach agreement to avoid spreading anger over the issue. Palestinians use May 15 to commemorate their suffering that resulted from Israel’s establishment 64 years ago, a day they call the “nakba” or “catastrophe.”
After an ongoing 79 days of hunger-strike, Palestinian detainees Tha’er Halahla and Bilal Thiab, signed an agreement with the Israeli Prison Authorities to end their hunger-strike in exchange for their release as they are being held without charges, the Maan News Agency reported.
According to Maan, head of the Legal Unit at the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), Lawyer Jawad Boulos, was present when detainee Tha’er signed the agreement at the Ramla Israeli Prison, adding Halahla will be released on June 5th.
The father of Halahla said that Tha’er phoned him shortly after midnight, informed him of the recent developments, and told him that he still has no information regarding the fate of the rest of the political prisoners held under administrative detention.
Furthermore, the brother of detainee Bilal Thiab said that a late-night agreement was reached between his brother and the Prison Administration, and that detainee Jamal Al-Hour, representative of Hamas at the Hunger-Strike Committee, detainee Bassam As-Sa’dy, in addition to lawyer Boulos were present when the agreement was signed.
According to initial reports, detainee Bilal Thiab will be release on August 14, 2012.
Talking to his mother over phone, Thiab said that he grants this victory to the Palestinian People, adding that this agreement was reached after a series of meetings. He further stated that negotiations are still being held at the Ramla Prison to conclude all files of hunger-striking detainees.
Thousands of Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel, hundreds are currently being held under the illegal administrative detention polices that deprive them from their right to legal representation.
Such military detention orders are repeatedly renewed for different period of times, usually 3-6 months each time, while Israel does not present any charges against the detainees under the pretext of “having a secret file”, a file that defense attorneys never have access to.
Al Qassam website- Ramallah- A message from the Israeli dungeons revealed that prisoner Ahed Abu Ghulma was vomiting the water he was consuming along with a yellow substance.
The message received on Sunday from Hassan Salame, another prisoner in isolation, said that Abu Ghulma was vomiting blood in the past couple of days and the prison administration was refusing to transfer him to hospital.
He said the prison administration only gave him injection to infuse water into his body.
Salame asked the media to shed light on Abu Ghulma’s condition, and urged human rights groups to pressure the Israeli prison authority to transfer him to hospital.
He underlined that Abu Ghulma has lost more than 15 kilograms of his weight, but despite seriousness of his condition was adamant on continuing in the hunger strike.
Mahmoud Hassan, the lawyer of Addameer Foundation for Prisoners and Human Rights, met, on Sunday in Ramla prison hospital, the detainee Hassan Safadi who has been on hunger strike for 63 days.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Mahmoud Hassan, the lawyer of Addameer Foundation for Prisoners and Human Rights, met, on Sunday in Ramla prison hospital, the detainee Hassan Safadi who has been on hunger strike for 63 days.
Safadi, who came to the visit on a wheelchair because of his deteriorating health, told the lawyer that the prison hospital administration had forcefully given him a treatment without knowing what it is.
Safadi said that during his transfer to Ramla prison hospital, he was beaten by prison guards, and the prison doctor refused to examine the injuries sustained from the attack.
Meanwhile, the lawyer said that the captive Nidhal Shehadeh, 20 days on hunger strike, has been transferred from Ramla prison hospital to Assaf Harovih prison due to a severe abdominal pain.
Oytun Ayse Mihalik, a Turkish citizen and former pharmacist of Orange County, California, has been in federal custody since August 2011 for wiring charitable contributions to Pakistan.
A federal complaint filed against her alleges that Mihalik knew the funds would be used to coordinate attacks against U.S. military oversees and that she had allegedly lied to federal employees, according to court documents. If convicted on all three counts of providing material support to terrorists and one count of making a false statement, Mihalik could face up to 53 years in prison.
Write her:
Oytun Ayse Mihalik #61427-112 MDC Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center PO Box 1500 Los Angeles, CA 90053 USA
In February of 2011, Mihalik traveled to her homeland, Turkey, where she spent six months with family before returning for a brief visit to the United States on 8 August. Upon her arrival, the 39-year-old La Palma resident was thoroughly interrogated and recorded regarding her travels and finances at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Records show FBI and U.S.Homeland Security Investigators (HSI) questioned Mihalik about any money she may have sent overseas. An immigrant with extensive family and friends still residing in her native Turkey and abroad, she answered in the affirmative.
Despite the seemingly general questioning, the FBI and HSI were particularly interested in three transfers sent in December 2010 and January 2011 amounting to $2.050, inquiring as to whom the money was intended for and under what name(s) she had previously sent money.
According to an affidavit citing disjointed and often abruptly truncated portions of the transcribed interview, Mihalik did not deny that she sent money overseas and elaborated that the money was intended for friends and friends of relatives or friends of friends who were in financial need. Whether an inaccurate recollection or a nervous omission, Mihalik failed to mention the use of an alias for the transfers.
This file photo shows two Afghans, who were killed in US-led attacks, in Surkhroad, Nangarhar Province.
Former Afghan Prime Minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai has accused the US-led forces in Afghanistan of intentionally killing civilians, Press TV reports.
“Since Americans and NATO came to Afghanistan, they are killing and committing many mistakes and crimes, especially in the night raids, they are killing innocent children, men and women, not those who they want to kill,” he told Press TV from Kabul on Monday.“They are doing this intentionally, unfortunately. While they say they are in favor of human rights, justice, and so on, what they are doing in Afghanistan is completely against human rights and human justice,” he added.
The former official also called on the US-led forces to withdraw from the war-torn Afghanistan.
“They only solution is that the Western forces must leave, specially Americans must leave, if they want peace in this country. If they don’t leave, this means they are intentionally after the killing of the Afghans and there will be no end to this war until they are militarily present in Afghan soil,” Ahmadzai said.
US-led operations that led to civilian casualties have sparked demonstrations across the country. The Afghan government has repeatedly condemned the attacks.
A man who al-Qaeda hoped would carry out a plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner is a mole who infiltrated the terrorist organization and thwarted the attack, U.S. and Yemeni officials said Tuesday.
Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri constructed the first underwear bomb and two others that al-Qaeda built into printer cartridges and shipped to the U.S. on cargo planes in 2010.
The secret operative — working for CIA and Saudi intelligence handlers in Yemen — provided the U.S. with key information on a nearly undetectable bomb that al-Qaeda hoped would destroy a plane and usher in a new era of terror, the Associated Press reported.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation, the AP said. The plot was foiled in the early stages.
The U.S. military recently sent “trainers” to Yemen to help them deal with al-Qaeda, which has been causing instability in the country, said U.S. Navy Capt. John Kirby, deputy assistant secretary of Defense. He wouldn’t reveal the nature of the operations.
“We have been working with the government of Yemen … for some time now to help them deal with the growing al-Qaeda threat inside Yemen,” Kirby said.
Michael Chertoff, the former secretary of Homeland Security, expects more plots from South Asia and Yemen, perhaps with liquid explosives. The latest plot didn’t prompt a significant overhaul in security, meaning the bomb was probably not a threat to current screening.
Nevertheless, “we have to continue to adapt,” Chertoff said.
The FBI is analyzing the explosive, which was intended to be concealed in a passenger’s underwear. Officials said it was more sophisticated than the bomb that failed to detonate on board an airplane over Detroit on Christmas 2009.
Up to 20 high-level insurgent prisoners have been released from NATO custody in Afghanistan over the past two years in an effort to boost peace negotiations with the Taliban in various regions of the country, according to U.S. officials.
The insurgents, held at the jointly-run NATO-Afghan detention facility of Parwan, are considered “bad guys,” said one U.S. official who did not want to be identified discussing a sensitive issue. Their release was undertaken, the official said, often at the request of the Afghan government. In all cases, they were assessed as unlikely to rejoin the insurgency.
The official added that the Taliban detainees had been in the maximum security Parwan detention center “for a reason” – but that NATO “does not release anyone when there is a high likelihood they will rejoin the insurgency.” The official said he was aware of only two releases in the last nine months.
Some previously released Afghan detainees, especially from the U.S.-run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have allegedly rejoined the insurgency, suggesting such programs are not without risk.
The remaining British detainee in the Guantanamo Bay prison is on a hunger strike and says he is being treated inhumanely. (PLEASE WRITE the DOJ!)
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