Guantánamo: Shaker Aamer’s Daughter Delivers Letter to Gordon Brown

Shaker Aamer was cleared for release from Guantánamo by a military review board in 2007. Difficulties securing his release appear to hinge on questions about whether he should be sent back to Saudi Arabia, the country of his birth, or to the UK, where his British wife and four children live, but is also apparent that the US authorities have continued to regard him with suspicion, despite clearing him for release.

This, essentially, is because he has been the most vocal opponent of the human rights abuses inflicted on prisoners in the “War on Terror,” and as I mentioned during a speech outside the US embassy yesterday (report and photos here), I believe that it’s possible that his release in the UK — where he would be able to speak freely, unlike in Saudi Arabia — would be embarrassing for the US government because of his extensive knowledge of the abusive regime at Guantánamo, and embarrassing for the British government, because of his claims (which are making their way through the UK courts) that British agents were complicit in his abuse when he was held in US custody in Afghanistan, before his transfer to Guantánamo. Full article.

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