A cry from Guantanamo that should shame us all
Wanneer: 22/04/2013 - 20:14
'Whether the hunger strikers will succeed in their gamble to return the spotlight to Guantanamo is unclear. In Washington, there seems to be no conscience to jog. The camp’s 10th anniversary came and went last year without much notice. Every new terrorist attack, like the bombings in Boston, cements the American right in its conviction that terrorists, proven or not – the accusation appears to be enough – don’t need the luxury of courts and are best kept out of sight and out of mind.'
The Independent:
'Editorial: A cry from Guantanamo that should shame us all.
"They told me six years ago that I was cleared to leave and return and here I am still."'
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/editorial-a-cry-from-guan...
Sunday 21 April 2013
'Shaker Aamer still remembers thinking “I’m saved!” when the Americans picked him up as he fled war-torn Afghanistan for Pakistan.
That was more than 11 years ago. Today he remains where he has been since February 2002, incarcerated in the prison camp at Guantanamo, having confessed – under duress, he says – to membership of the al-Qa’ida network in the UK and to having had ties to Osama bin Laden. He is the only British citizen or resident still there out of 16; one of 166 inmates of a prison that Barack Obama once called a blot on America’s name and which he promised to close within a year of taking office, by January 2009.
... Whether the hunger strikers will succeed in their gamble to return the spotlight to Guantanamo is unclear. In Washington, there seems to be no conscience to jog. The camp’s 10th anniversary came and went last year without much notice. Every new terrorist attack, like the bombings in Boston, cements the American right in its conviction that terrorists, proven or not – the accusation appears to be enough – don’t need the luxury of courts and are best kept out of sight and out of mind.
Shaker Aamer says his favourite read in prison is Orwell’s 1984. The term “Orwellian” is often abused and applied to people suffering relatively minor inconveniences. Sadly, in this case, the comparison is all too apt.'
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"Shaker Aamer: 'I may have to die. I hope not. I want to see my family again.'
Shaker Aamer was sent to Guantánamo Bay in 2002, and cleared to leave in 2007. Now, weakened by hunger strike, he asks what his fate has to do with justice."
Sunday 21 April 2013:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/shaker-aamer-i-may-have-to-d...
Overigens ook nog steeds pijnlijk treffend in dezen:
"New York's top court highlights the meaninglessness and menace of the term 'terrorism': A fascinating new ruling unwittingly illustrates the separate system of 'justice' invented for Muslims in the US after 9/11", Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian, Sunday 16 December 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/16/court-terrorism-mora... .
Greenwald schrijft natuurlijk 'weleens' vaker over Guantánamo Bay, recent is zijn 'Obama, Guantánamo, and the enduring national shame: One of the most powerful Op-eds ever published in the NYT, by a Yemeni detainee, underscores the president's role in this travesty', 15 April 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/15/obama-guantanamo-hun... .
Nog bijna de headline over het hoofd gezien, verscheen tevens gisteren in ik meen zowel The Independent als The Guardian:
'Over half of Guantanamo Bay prisoners on hunger strike as number increases to 84', http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/over-half-of-guantanamo... .