‘SHUT down Guantánamo Bay!’ demanded human rights organisations on the day that Shaker Aamer was finally freed.
After 13 years of languishing in Guantánamo Bay concentration camp, at 12.58pm on Friday October 30th a plane with Shaker Aamer on board touched down at Biggin Hill Air field in Kent.
He was met by British officials and detectives and was immediately taken to hospital. He will be reunited with his wife and four children, the youngest of which he has never met. The London Guantánamo Campaign said: ‘We welcome the release of the last British resident held at Guantánamo Bay, 46-year old Saudi national Shaker Aamer.
‘Mr Aamer, who has indefinite leave to remain in the UK and a British family, has been held in Guantánamo Bay since February 2002 where he has never faced charges or trial, and was first cleared for release in 2007.’
Aisha Maniar, spokesperson for the London Guantánamo Campaign, said: ‘The London Guantánamo Campaign welcomes the release of the last British resident Shaker Aamer, for whom we have campaigned since 2006.
‘We are pleased for the family of Shaker Aamer and hope they will be given the space and privacy to reunite and reconnect as a family. Release from indefinite detention and torture after almost 14 years creates new challenges and difficulties and we urge that Shaker Aamer is given an adequate opportunity to receive rehabilitation and all the care he requires as a survivor of torture.
‘Shaker’s case has nonetheless demonstrated the frailty of the “special relationship” between the US and UK. Unanswered questions remain, particularly why it has taken so long, when he was first cleared for release and his return to the UK sought in 2007. Both the Conservative and Labour parties must respond.
‘There are still 112 prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay and we will continue to campaign for their release and the closure of the prison camp. The London Guantánamo Campaign also thanks the many individuals and grassroots organisations who have worked tirelessly for many years for his release, long before his case came to the public attention.’
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) said that Aamer’s release is another nail in Guantánamo coffin. IHRC said: ‘We welcome the release of Guantanamo detainee Shaker Aamer after spending 14 years incarcerated in the notorious detention facility. His release is a testament to the tireless campaigning of supporters of justice everywhere for him to be freed.
‘Like most of the other remaining detainees in Guantánamo, set up after the 9/11 attacks on the US, Aamer has never been charged with any offenses. The US authorities claimed, based partially on testimonies extracted from the torture of other detainees – that Aamer fought for Al-Qaeda. He claims he was working for a charity in Afghanistan when he was arrested and that British officials were aware – and on one occasion, present – when he was being beaten by US interrogators.
‘IHRC calls on the UK government to come clean about Aamer’s claim that British police were aware that he was tortured under questioning at Bagram prison in Afghanistan. While Aamer’s release is undoubtedly fantastic news it should not divert us from the task of continuing our efforts to press for the closure of Guantánamo, a prison that has come to symbolise the worst excesses of the so-called war on terror. Over 100 detainees remain at the facility some almost 7 years after President Obama pledged to close it.’
IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh said: ‘Thankfully, the ordeal of another inmate at this barbaric institution is over. However, the question remains as to why the facility continues to operate despite universal international condemnation. It is an affront to civilisation and must be closed immediately.’
Cori Crider, Shaker’s US attorney and Strategic Director at Reprieve said: ‘We are, of course, delighted that Shaker is on his way back to his home and his family here in the UK. It is long, long past time. Shaker now needs to see a doctor, and then get to spend time alone with his family as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has stood with Shaker and fought for his release for all these years.’
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: ‘Shaker Aamer’s release will bring huge relief to his family but serious questions remain. Why did it take us so many years to persuade our closest ally to behave decently? How many young Britons have been radicalised, at least in part, by kidnap, internment and torture in freedom’s name?’
Shaker Aamer (born 21 December 1966 is a Saudi citizen, he was seized in Afghanistan by bounty hunters who handed him over to US forces in December 2001. Two months later, the US rendered Aamer to the Guantánamo camp; he was then held there without trial or charge.
Aamer had been legally resident in Britain for years before his imprisonment. Aamer has never been charged with any wrongdoing, was never on trial. He was approved for transfer to Saudi Arabia by the Bush administration in 2007 and the Obama administration in 2009. He has been described as a ‘charismatic leader’ who spoke up and fought for the rights of fellow prisoners.
Aamer says that he has been subject to torture while in detention. Campaigners allege that the US refused to release Aamer for so long because it feared he would expose torture inside the Guantánamo prison. Aamer’s mental and physical health has declined over the years, as he has participated in hunger strikes to protest detention condition and been held in solitary confinement much of the time.
He has lost 40 per cent of his body weight in captivity. After a visit in November 2011, his lawyer said: ‘I do not think it is stretching matters to say that he is gradually dying in Guantánamo Bay’. During his detention, when a US news crew visited Guantánamo, Shaker shouted from his cell, asking reporters to ‘tell the world the truth’.
As part of a recording made by the CBS 60 Minutes programme, Shaker Aamer said: ‘Tell the world the truth… please, we are tired. Either you leave us to die in peace – or either tell the world the truth. Open up the place. Let the world come and visit. Let the world hear what’s happening. Please colonel, act with us like a human being, not like slaves.’
He added: ‘You cannot walk even half a metre without being chained. Is that a human being? That’s the treatment of an animal… It is very sad what is happening in this place.’ On a call from Guantánamo Bay, Clive Stafford Smith, Shaker’s lawyer, was given advice on how to successfully hunger strike by Shaker Aamer. Here is what he said: ‘I am a professional hunger striker and have been using it as a peaceful way to protest since my earliest days in US custody in Bagram Air Force Base, where my treatment was particularly bad.
‘Two days before you begin your hunger strike, eat as much fruit as you can. Eat no solid food, and no carbs if you can. You will find that you have maybe five pounds of excrement in your body that you need to get out. Apples, grapes and pears are good; prunes can be the best if you have them. Drink lots of water during this time. In addition to preparing you for your strike, this is good for your body. You want to get the meat toxins out as they weaken you on your forthcoming strike.
‘The night before you begin your strike, use a laxative to flush your system. I try to get 60 ml of Milk of Magnesia here, but our options are few. Hopefully on the morning you begin your strike your bowels will be a bit looser, but don’t overdo it. But remember, constipation is one enemy of the hunger striker. Make sure, as you begin your strike, that you drink enough water.
‘But it is much better to drink little and often, as you are trying to shrink your stomach, and drinking large amounts will keep the stomach larger. Do not listen to the doctors in Guantánamo who tell you to take more water. This expands your stomach. Reduce it as much as you can but be sensible. Drink at least four to six large cups a day. Do not take too little as that makes you dizzy and you will fall down.
‘If it is not too hot, I have found that it is good to gradually reduce your water intake, though never to the point of being dehydrated. However, it is generally very hot here in Cuba, except when they are using the air conditioning units to abuse us, and you must not leave yourself without enough liquid.
‘Acid in the stomach is the worst part of hunger striking; heart burn is the biggest enemy. More water can mean more acid. Chewing gum is very bad – it provokes the stomach into action without giving it anything to work on. At the start you will hear loud noises in your stomach. You may be a little light headed, so don’t go getting up fast. You may have the urge to read food magazines – if you can believe it, they have such magazines here in Guantánamo, and they tend to be all over the place during a hunger strike!
‘Days three and four are the worst. After that you will be much less hungry. Now you are on the “Hunger Strike Highway!”.’