Below is a new letter the London Guantánamo Campaign has put together for you to send to your MP about Ahmed Belbacha.
Ahmed Belbacha, who lived in Bournemouth for 18 months in 1999-2001, was cleared for release by the US in early 2007. However, the UK has not sought his return, claiming he was a failed asylum seeker. He has stated that he would rather remain in Guantánamo Bay than return to Algeria, where he fled.
At the end of last month, an Algerian court sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for membership of a terrorist organisation abroad; this has not been substantiated. Earlier this month France accepted a second man of Algerian origin with no ties to the country to help close Guantánamo down. Other European countries, including Hungary, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland have recently done likewise. Britain must follow their example and accept Ahmed Belbacha on humanitarian grounds.
Sample Letter Below
INSERT ADDRESS
INSERT DATE
INSERT MP’S NAME
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear INSERT MP’S NAME (which can be found at www.theyworkforyou.com)
I am writing to you about Ahmed Belbacha, a British resident who is being held at Guantánamo Bay. I would appreciate a reply to my letter.
Mr Belbacha is a 38 year old Algerian national who came to the UK in 2000 as an asylum seeker, and who lived and worked in Bournemouth for over one and a half years. In late 2001 he travelled to Pakistan where he was kidnapped and handed over to the US military. He was then taken to Guantánamo Bay where he has been held ever since.
In February 2007, Mr Belbacha was deemed to pose no threat by the Military Annual Review Board in Guantánamo Bay, and was cleared for release. However, he continues to be held at Guantanamo Bay, as he cannot return to Algeria where his life would be at risk, and no other country has agreed to take him. Mr Belbacha has now spent nearly three years in Guantánamo for no other reason than that he has nowhere to go to.
The Government has refused to make representations on his behalf on the grounds that he was a failed asylum seeker; this despite the fact that he was unable to attend his asylum appeal hearing, as he was in US military hands at the time. However, several European countries, including Belgium, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, have supported President Obama in fulfilling his pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by giving homes to men who had been cleared for release but who had effectively become “stateless” as a result of their incarceration at Guanatnamo Bay.
Earlier this month, France accepted Sabir Lahmar, an Algerian with no previous connection with the country. The United Kingdom could follow this example by requesting the return of Ahmed Belbacha, a man with clear links to this country and with friends ready to support him upon his return.
I would ask you to forward my letter to the Foreign Secretary, stressing that action should be taken to obtain Ahmed Belbacha’s return to the UK on humanitarian grounds.
Yours sincerely
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