Shaker Aamer: 13 years in Guantánamo Bay

[polly7]

Shaker Aamer has finally been released after being detained in Guantánamo Bay detention centre without charge or trial for the last 13 years.

The reports come after a 30-day 'notification' period allowing US Congress to be informed of the terms of Shaker Aamer’s release from the US military base.

46-year-old Shaker Aamer was one of the first detainees to be sent to the notorious camp in 2002, and the last UK resident to be detained there. He was cleared for transfer from Guantánamo in 2007, indicating that US authorities had no intention of bringing him to trial for the last eight years.

His lawyer maintains that Shaker Aamer remained imprisoned for so long because he witnessed US and UK agents torturing men while he was in US detention.

Shaker Aamer has claimed that MI5 officials were in the room when he was being tortured, which highlights the urgent need for an independent, judge-led inquiry into UK involvement in the CIA's programme of torture and rendition.

'Aamer has alleged that he was tortured in full view of British agents in Afghanistan - a very serious claim that should be fully investigated as part of an independent, judge-led inquiry into a whole set of allegations that UK officials were involved in kidnap, detention and torture overseas during the ‘war on terror'.'

Kate Allen, Amnesty UK Director

Full article: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/shaker-aamer-13-years-guantanamo-bay-torture-uk#.Vj5daLerTq4


What was the UK's role in CIA torture?

The public, heavily redacted torture report summary highlights some of the gruesome details of the torture methods used in secret CIA-run prisons across the world. It details how the CIA used waterboarding, mock executions, 'rectal feeding', sleep deprivation, stress positions and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment against detainees.

Ewen MacAskill ✔ @ewenmacaskill
Handcuffed CIA prisoner hanging from bar 22 hours a day for two days. "was wearing a diaper and had no access to toilet facilities".

As well as some of the horrific effects the interrogation techniques had on the detainees themselves - including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation. But the CIA and other US authorities did not act alone.

UK involvement in torture?

Many people were allegedly subjected to torture and rendition during the global counter-terrorism programme operated by US government and its allies after the attacks of 9/11. That includes the UK.

Full article: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/what-was-uks-role-cia-torture#.Vj5eQLerTq4

[OnyxCollie]

1. K&R. nt