The Guantánamo Files: An Archive of Articles — Part Seven, July to December 2010

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For five years, I have been researching and writing about Guantánamo and the 779 men (and boys) held there over the last nine years, first through my book The Guantánamo Files, which tells the story of the prison and around 450 of the prisoners, and then through 12 online chapters, which provide information about the majority of the other 329 prisoners (see the links in the left-hand column). Since May 2007, I have followed up on this project, working as a full-time independent investigative journalist, covering stories as they develop, and focusing in particular on the stories of released prisoners, the Military Commission trial system, and the prisoners’ progress in the courts, through their habeas corpus petitions. For nearly three years, I focused on the crimes of the Bush administration and, since January 2009, I have turned my attention to the failures of the Obama administration to thoroughly repudiate those crimes and to hold anyone accountable for them, and, increasingly, on the Obama administration’s failure to charge or release prisoners, and to show any sign that Guantánamo will eventually be closed.

My intention, all along, has been to bring the men to life through their stories, dispelling the Bush administration’s rhetoric about the prison holding “the worst of the worst,” and demonstrating how, instead, the majority of the prisoners were either innocent men, seized by the US military’s allies at a time when bounty payments were widespread, or recruits for the Taliban, who had been encouraged by supporters in their homelands to help the Taliban in a long-running inter-Muslim civil war (with the Northern Alliance), which began long before the 9/11 attacks and, for the most part, had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or international terrorism. As I explained in the introduction to my four-part Definitive Prisoner List (which I hope to update in the near future), I remain convinced, through detailed research and through comments from insiders with knowledge of Guantánamo, that “at least 93 percent of the 779 men and boys imprisoned in total” had no involvement with terrorism.

However, as this is a blog, rather than a website, I recognize that it is increasingly difficult to navigate, as there are so many “Categories,” and, most crucially, there is no access to articles in anything other than reverse chronological order. In an attempt to remedy this shortcoming, and to provide easy access to the most important articles on the site, I have, in the last year, put together six chronological lists of all my articles, covering the periods May to December 2007, January to June 2008, July to December 2008, January to June 2009, July to December 2009, and January to June 2010, in the hope that they will provide a useful tool for navigation, and will provide researchers — and anyone else interested in this particularly bleak period of modern history — with a practical archive.

This latest list brings the story up to date, covering my articles in the last six months, from July to December 2010. I’d like to say that progess was made in this period, but in fact the opposite is true, and over the last six months the activities of the Obama administration, of Congress, and of the D.C. Circuit Court, have ensured that Guantánamo may not close while Obama is in office.

Just seven prisoners — out of the 97 cleared for release by the President’s interagency Guantánamo Review Task Force — were released in the last six months. This was the lowest six-monthly total since 2002, and was largely because of the unprincipled moratorium on releasing any Yemenis (amounting to guilt by nationality) that was announced by the President last January after hysteria greeted the news that the failed Christmas Day plane bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (a Nigerian), had been recruited in Yemen. Under international pressure, the administration released a solitary Yemeni who had won his habeas corpus petititon, but no one cared — or seems to care still — that there was no basis to connect the remaining 58 Yemenis cleared for release by Obama’s interagency Guantánamo Review Task Force to a terrorist cell that had sprung up in Yemen in the last few years, or to presume that any released prisoner would somehow end up joining this cell. In fact, as the year came to an end, Congress also embroiled itself in the arguments, unconstitutionally including provisions in spending bills preventing the President from releasing any prisoner to a country regarded by lawmakers as dangerous — a list that included Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

When it came to trying any of the 35 prisoners that the Task Force recommended for trials, there was also little movement. Two men — Ibrahim al-Qosi, a sometime cook for Osama bin Laden’s entourage, and former child prisoner Omar Khadr — were put forward for trials by Military Commission, but were persuaded to accept plea deals so that the administration could avoid the embarrassment of actually proceeding with trials. In Khadr’s case, however, this could not disguise the fact that the Obama administration had proceeded with the first war crimes trial of a child prisoner since World War II, in spite of international treaties designed to guarantee the rehabilitation rather than the punishment of child soldiers, and, moreover, had done so by persuading Khadr to confess to war crimes that had been invented by Congress.

In October, the only man transferred from Guantánamo to the US mainland to face a federal court trial — Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a suspect in the 1998 African embassy bombings, and a former CIA “ghost prisoner” — was convicted on just one of the 285 charges that he faced, by a jury that was evidently unwilling to accept that he was a major player, but was prepared to accept that he was not entirely blameless. Despite the fact that Ghailani faces 20 years to life in prison, critics seized on the result as a failure, the administration did not protest enough that the result was actually a success, and, at year’s end, Congress responded with another unconstitutional power grab, including other provisions in the spending bills mentioned above, which prohibited any Guantánamo prisoner from being brought to the US mainland for any reason, and also prevented the administration from purchasing a prison on the US mainland to rehouse them. This was a naked ploy to prevent the administration from proceeding with the federal court trial of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks, which had been announced by Attorney General Eric Holder in November 2009.

With little movement on releasing any of the 90 cleared prisoners still held, and the administration unable to proceed with federal court trials and unwilling to proceed with trials by Military Commission for any of the 33 men recommended for trials by the Task Force (after criticism of the appalling treatment of Omar Khadr), the final stumbling block to the closure of Guantánamo concerns the 48 prisoners recommended for indefinite detention without charge or trial by the Task Force. This was always an unacceptable proposal, as it risked permanently enshrining indefinite detention as US policy, and it was not reassuring that, instead of allowing these men’s habeas petitions to proceed, and relabeling those found to be have been soldiers as prisoners of war, administration officials announced instead that they were preparing an executive order endorsing the men’s detention, but providing them with the opportunity to have their cases periodically reviewed.

On habeas corpus, this was also a bleak period. Although two Yemenis won their habeas petitions, they are still held (and the government seems to have decided that appealing sucessful petitions — even in the case of an innocent man with severe mental health problems — is preferable to releasing them), and five other men lost their petitions, in part because the administration was happy for the notoriously Conservative D.C. Circuit Court to overturn successful petitions, and to propose a standard for detention that would have pleased the most hardline members of the Bush administration. This, too, remains a disgrace, and it is not reassuring that, with the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court, which may be called upon to review the basis of detention at Guantánamo for a fourth time, now has a default position on national security issues that is more right-wing than it was under President Bush.

In an attempt to highlight the plight faced by the remaining 174 prisoners at Guantánamo, I undertook a major project, beginning in September, telling the stories of all of these men. The first eight parts have been published (and are available here), and the ninth will follow soon.

Outside of Guantánamo, the administration continued to resist calls for accountability for the Bush administration’s torturers, invoking the little-known and little-used “state secrets” doctrine to prevent petitioners from even gaining access to a US courtroom with their complaints. This was the case with five men subjected to “extraordinary rendition” and torture in a variety of secret prisons, who had attempted to sue Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., a Boeing subsidiary, for its role as the CIA’s travel agent for torture, and it was a ploy that was so successful — despite being a blatant misuse of the precedent, cynically shielding any government activity from scrutiny by proclaiming “national security” concerns — that the administration also used it to prevent challenges to distressing innovations introduced under Obama — drone killings in Pakistan, and the unprecedented claim that, without any review process whatsoever, the President could order the assassination of US citizens abroad.

In sharp contrast to the US, the last six months were a significant period for activities relating to the accountability of the British government for its involvement in the “War on Terror,” with the new coalition government promising to establish a judicial inquiry into British complicity in torture abroad, and, in November, reaching a financial settlement with 15 former prisoners — and with Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo. This arose because of a need to stem the dangerous leak of revelations about the complicity in torture of senior government officials (including Tony Blair and Jack Straw), which — again in stark contrast to the US — were emerging on the order of senior judges from a civil claim for damages filed by seven former prisoners. Despite the protestations of the coalition government, however, the financial settlement not only established a precedent for other countries to follow, but also involved the tacit admission of guilt. It was, therefore, enormously important, even though it has not, to date, led to the release of Shaker Aamer, for whom a campaign is ongoing.

On the domestic front, the coalition government is involved in an internal struggle regarding the reform of the Labour government’s reviled anti-terror legislation, and specifically, the future of control orders (a form of house arrest for men held without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence), which had not been resolved by the end of the year. I will continue to cover this story this year, especially as the high-profile arguments within the government about the use of secret evidence do not currently extend to other men, held without charge or trial in similar circumstances in their homes, or in prison, while the government attempts to deport them to their home countries, where they face the risk of torture.

In addition, other aspects of UK politics also featured heavily in my work in the last few months of the year, as I began responding to the government’s ideologically-driven programme of savage cuts to university budgets, and to the welfare state, playing my part in the creation of a broad anti-cuts coalition that recognizes that, without a focus on the financial crimes committed in the City, and the loss of revenue through massive corporate tax evasion, the future for the UK promises to be increasingly bleak for anyone who is not either rich or super-rich. I expect that this campaign will consume more of my time in the months to come.

The other big story of the last six months, of course, was WikiLeaks, and I covered various aspects of the story — the release of the classified Iraqi war logs, the release of the classified US diplomatic cables, the revelations about the suppression of torture investigations in Germany and Spain, the pursuit of Julian Assange by the US government, and the cult of personality that has built up around him, and the worrying isolation of Bradley Manning. I anticipate that this, too, will remain a major story into 2011, especially regarding those aspects of the story that deal with the freedom of the media, and the freedom of the Internet.

On the work front, this was a good time for me, as I continued working part-time for Cageprisoners as a Senior Researcher and writing a weekly column as a policy advisor for the Future of Freedom Foundation, and also wrote the occasional article for the Guardian and Truthout. I also undertook several TV and radio appearances, some of which are listed below. In addition, I visited the US in October for a week of events, “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week, which brought together a wonderful group of anti-torture writers, lawyers, activists and other experts, and was devoted to raising awareness about torture, and, in particular, about the crimes committed by John Yoo, author of the notorious Justice Department “torture memos” in 2002, who is now, disgracefuly, a law professor at US Berkeley. I also continued showing the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (which I co-directed with Polly Nash) at various locations in the UK, and was delighted to take part in two conferences in London organized by Amnesty International.

As ever, I thank my benefactors and supporters for their continuing support of my work. I’m visiting the US from January 6-12 to call for the closure of Guantánamo on the 9th anniversary of the prison’s opening, and will also continue to attend screenings of “Outside the Law” in venues across the UK — some in conjunction with Amnesty International. I will also, of course, be writing assiduously about Guantánamo, continuing the work I began five years ago. As the year ended, I asked my supporters to help me raise $1000 to help me continue the many aspects of my work for which I receive no financial support, and was delighted to receive $1200. However, this is an ongoing request, and, as a result, if you would like to support my work financially, please feel free to donate via the PayPal button above.

An archive of Guantánamo articles: Part Seven, July to December 2010

July 2010

1. Life after Guantánamo: “It was better in Guantánamo,” Complains Egyptian Held in Slovak Detention Center
2. UK complicity in torture: Torture Complicity Under the Spotlight in Europe (Part One): The UK
3. Moazzam Begg: Dangerous Game: A Reply to Gita Sahgal and Her Supporters
4. UK anti-terror laws: Fighting Ghosts: An Interview with Husein Al-Samamara
5. Life after Guantánamo: Who Are the Three Ex-Guantánamo Prisoners on Hunger Strike in Slovakia?
6. Life after Guantánamo: Calls for Review of Punitive Sentences for Ex-Guantánamo Tajiks
7. European complicity in torture: Torture Complicity Under the Spotlight in Europe (Part Two): Germany and France
8. Military Commissions: Bin Laden Cook Accepts Plea Deal at Guantánamo Trial (Ibrahim al-Qosi)
9. UK complicity in torture: A Cautious Welcome for British Torture Inquiry
10. Guantánamo media: The Guantánamo Files: An Archive of Articles – Part Six, January to June 2010
11. Guantánamo media: The Guantánamo Archive: 3 Years, 650 Articles Listed Chronologically
12. Guantánamo media: Guantánamo: The Definitive Prisoner List (Updated for Summer 2010)
13. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Judge Orders Release from Guantánamo of Yemeni Seized in Iran, Held in Secret CIA Prisons (Hussein Almerfedi)
14. Prisoners released from Guantánamo: Innocent Student Finally Released from Guantánamo (Mohammed Hassan Odaini)
15. UK complicity in torture: UK Sought Rendition of British Nationals to Guantánamo; Tony Blair Directly Involved
16. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington on Guantánamo: Four Powerful Radio Shows
17. Obituaries: RIP Charly Gittings: We’ve Just Lost One of the Good Guys
18. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: Defiance in Isolation: The Last Stand of Omar Khadr
19. UK complicity in torture: Omar Deghayes Complains About “Highly Selective” Disclosure of UK Documents Relating to his Interrogations in Bagram and Guantánamo
20. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: Omar Khadr Accepts US Military Lawyer for Forthcoming Trial by Military Commission
21. Torture: How Jay Bybee Has Approved the Prosecution of CIA Operatives for Torture
22. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Guantánamo and Habeas Corpus: Prisoners Win 3 out of 4 Cases, But Lose 5 out of 6 in Court of Appeals (Part One)
23. UK complicity in torture: Reprieve Demands Resignation of “Fatally Compromised” Head of UK Torture Inquiry
24. Life after Guantánamo: Former Guantánamo Prisoners in Slovakia Finally Receive Residence Permits
25. Prisoners released from Guantánamo: Obama and US Courts Repatriate Algerian from Guantánamo Against His Will; May Be Complicit in Torture
26. Abu Zubaydah, Guantánamo and habeas corpus: In Abu Zubaydah’s Case, Court Relies on Propaganda and Lies
27. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Guantánamo and Habeas Corpus: Prisoners Win 3 out of 4 Cases, But Lose 5 out of 6 in Court of Appeals (Part Two)
28. Omar Khadr: A Letter from Omar Khadr in Guantánamo
29. UK anti-terror laws: Ruling sends message on control orders (in the Guardian)
30. Return to torture: Guantánamo Algerian Returns Home; Will Obama Suspend Further Transfers?
31. Life after Guantánamo: Abdul Aziz Naji, Released from Guantánamo Last Week, Speaks to Algerian Media
32. Prisoners released from Guantánamo: Who Are the Guantánamo Prisoners Released in Cape Verde, Latvia and Spain?

August 2010

33. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Judge Orders Release from Guantánamo of Mentally Ill Yemeni; 2nd Judge Approves Detention of Minor Taliban Recruit (Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, Abdul Rahman Sulayman)
34. Ahmed Belbacha, Return to torture: Take Action for Ahmed Belbacha, at Risk of Enforced Repatriation from Guantánamo to Algeria
35. UK anti-terror laws: UK Judges Endorse Double Standards on Terror Deportations
36. Torture, European complicity in torture: New Evidence About Prisoners Held in Secret CIA Prisons in Poland and Romania
37. Torture, European complcitiy in torture: Will Poland’s Former Leaders Face War Crimes Charges for Hosting Secret CIA Prison?
38. Military Commissions, Sudanese prisoners in Guantánamo: Bin Laden Cook Expected to Serve Two More Years at Guantánamo – And Some Thoughts on the Remaining Sudanese Prisoners (Ibrahim al-Qosi)
39. Hunger strkes in Guantánamo: Ramadan Force-Feeding, and Renewed Secrecy Surrounding Hunger Strikers in Guantánamo
40. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: Lawlessness Haunts Omar Khadr’s Blighted War Crimes Trial at Guantánamo
41. Obituaries, UK anti-terror laws: In Memoriam: Faraj Hassan Alsaadi (1980-2010)
42. UK anti-terror laws: An interview with Faraj Hassan Alsaadi (from 2007)
43. Conditions in Guantánamo: Would Al-Qaeda Terrorists Really Be Reading Harry Potter at Guantánamo?
44. US Islamophobia: Disgraceful: The Ground Zero Mosque Controversy
45. Iraq: The Legacy of the Iraq War: Over 100,000 Dead, 20,000 Unidentified

September 2010

46. Military Commissions: No Surprise at Obama’s Guantánamo Trial Chaos
47. Tony Blair, Book reviews: The Blair Bitch Project: But Behind the Savaging of Gordon Brown, Praise for George W. Bush, Defence of Iraq War and Guantánamo
48. Conditions in Guantánamo: First Glimpse of Guantánamo Prisoners’ Art
49. Libya, Torture, Life after Guantánamo: Ex-Guantánamo Prisoner Freed in Libya After Three Years’ Detention – And Information About “Ghost Prisoners”
50. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Judge Denies Habeas Petition of Afghan Shopkeeper at Guantánamo (Shawali Khan)
51. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington Discusses Obama’s Guantánamo Inertia on Antiwar Radio
52. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Nine Years After 9/11, US Court Concedes that International Laws of War Restrict President’s Wartime Powers
53. Stonehenge and civil liberties: RIP Sid Rawle, Land Reformer, Free Festival Pioneer, Stonehenge Stalwart
54. Afghanistan: Respected Think-Tank Calls Afghan War a Disaster, Says Al-Qaeda Threat is Exaggerated
55. Algerians in Guantánamo, Asylum in Europe: Nabil Hadjarab, an Algerian in Guantánamo, Appeals to President Sarkozy to Allow Him to Rejoin His Family in France
56. Algerians in Guantánamo, Asylum in Europe: France Turns Down Guantánamo Prisoner Nabil Hadjarab’s Appeal for Asylum
57. 9/11, Closing Guantánamo: On the 9th Anniversary of 9/11, A Call to Close Guantánamo and to Hold Accountable Those Who Authorized Torture
58. 9/11: Juan Cole and Robert Fisk on 9/11
59. Life after Guantánamo: Good News from Bermuda: Ex-Guantánamo Uighurs Settling In Well
60. Closing Guantánamo: Obama’s Hollow Guantánamo Apology
61. UK complicity in torture: Nine Human Rights Organizations and Lawyers’ Groups Propose Crucial Guidelines for British Torture Inquiry
62. Torture: By One Vote, US Court OKs Torture and “Extraordinary Rendition” (Jeppesen case)
63. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Introducing the Definitive List of the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo
64. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part One: The “Dirty Thirty”
65. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Two: Captured in Afghanistan (2001)
66. Guantánamo media: David Frakt, Stephen Jones, Michael Hayden and Marc Thiessen Discuss Guantánamo and “Enemy Combatants” (Part One)
67. Guantánamo media: David Frakt, Stephen Jones, Michael Hayden and Marc Thiessen Discuss Guantánamo and “Enemy Combatants” (Part Two)
68. Omar Khadr, Children in Guantánamo: Omar Khadr is 24 Today: He Has Lost One-Third of His Life in US Custody
69. Prisoners released from Guantánamo: Who Are the Two Guantánamo Prisoners Freed in Germany?
70. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Three: Captured Crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan (1 of 2)
71. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Fayiz Al-Kandari, A Kuwaiti Aid Worker in Guantánamo, Loses His Habeas Petition
72. Aafia Siddiqui: Barbaric: 86-Year Sentence for Aafia Siddiqui
73. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Shaker Aamer and the Guantánamo Prisoner List
74. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Four: Captured Crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan (2 of 2)
75. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: David Frakt Explains Why Guantánamo Prisoners Have Habeas Corpus Rights
76. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington Talks Guantánamo and Torture on Antiwar Radio and The Peter B. Collins Show
77. Guantánamo media: Guantánamo: If the Light Goes Out – Photos by Edmund Clark
78. Moazzam Begg, Aafia Siddiqui: Moazzam Begg Visits Pakistan: My Return to the Scene of the Crime
79. Torture: Andy Worthington Attends “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week, October 10-16, 2010
80. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Heads You Lose, Tails You Lose: The Betrayal of Mohamedou Ould Slahi
81. UK politics: Talkin’ ’Bout My Generation: Ed Miliband’s Bright Start – Apologies for Iraq and for Losing Touch with the Electorate
82. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Five: Captured in Pakistan (1 of 3)

October 2010

83. Deaths at Guantánamo, Accountability: US Court Denies Justice to Dead Men at Guantánamo
84. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: First Guantánamo Habeas Appeal to US Supreme Court
85. The remaining priosners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Six: Captured in Pakistan (2 of 3)
86. Life after Guantánamo: Guantánamo Uighur Brothers “Happy” in Switzerland, But Struggling to Adapt to New Life
87. Hunger strikes in Guantánamo: Secrecy Still Shrouds Guantánamo’s Five-Year Hunger Striker (Abdul Rahman Shalabi)
88. Torture, Accountability: Former Guantánamo Prisoner, Tortured by Al-Qaeda and the US, Launches Futile Attempt to Hold America Accountable (Abdul Rahim al-Janko/al-Ginco)
89. Torture: Liveblogging “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week: Day One
90. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Federal court trials: In the Case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Torture Apologists Are Everywhere
91. Torture: Liveblogging “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week: Days Two and Three – Radio, Film and Puncturing John Yoo’s Lies
92. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Seven: Captured in Pakistan (3 of 3)
93. Torture: Video: Andy Worthington and Justine Sharrock at “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week
94. Torture: “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week: Day Four – The Power of Art and the Power of the Pen (+ Video)
95. David Hicks: Former Guantánamo Prisoner David Hicks Describes His First Two Weeks at Camp X-Ray
96. Torture: Video: “The Giant John Yoo Debate” at “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week, October 12, 2010
97. Torture: “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week: Day Five – Humanizing Torture Victims and Fighting for the Soul of America (+ Videos)
98. “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo”: Great Malvern Gives Resounding Welcome to “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo”
99. UK politics: Butchering the Poor, the Ill, the Weak, the Dispossessed and the Marginalized: Welcome to Cameron and Osborne’s Heartless Britain
100. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Judge Denies Guantánamo Prisoner’s Habeas Petition, Ignores Torture in Secret CIA Prisons (Tawfiq al-Bihani)
101. WikiLeaks, Iraq: Wikileaks’ 400,000 Classified Iraq War Documents Reveal 15,000 Previously Unreported Civilian Casualties, and Extensive Torture
102. Torture: How Paul Wolfowitz Authorized Human Experimentation at Guantánamo
103. Torture: “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week: Day Six – Education, Human Experimentation and a Grand Finale
104. WikiLeaks: Wikileaks’ Julian Assange Accepts Intelligence Experts’ Whistleblower Award “On Behalf of Our Sources”
105. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: No Justice for Omar Khadr at Guantánamo
106. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: The Betrayal of Omar Khadr – and of American Justice
107. Life after Guantánamo, Conditions in Guantánamo: Moazzam Begg Interviews Ex-Guantánamo Prisoner Adel El-Gazzar in Slovakia
108. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington Discusses Omar Khadr’s Depressing Plea Deal on Antiwar Radio
109. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: Omar Khadr’s Statement at Guantánamo, October 28, 2010
110. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: In Omar Khadr’s Sentencing Phase, US Government Introduces Islamophobic “Expert” and Irrelevant Testimony
111. UK politics: Critics Attack UK Government’s Cruel and Ill-Conceived Assault on Welfare
112. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: Torture Is Finally Mentioned on the Last Day of Omar Khadr’s Sentencing Hearing at Guantánamo
113. The future of the media: Great Turnout in Brighton for Discussion on the Future of the Media with Nick Davies and Andy Worthington

November 2010

114. Omar Khadr: “A Child’s Soul is Sacred”: Omar Khadr’s Touching Exchange of Letters with Canadian Professor
115. Guantánamo and Republicans: Is There No End to Republicans’ Abuse of Guantánamo Prisoners?
116. Omar Khadr, Military Commissions: Omar Khadr Jury Hammers the Final Nail into the Coffin of American Justice
117. UK anti-terror laws: UK Government Faces Major Rebellion on Control Orders
118. Barack Obama: US Mid-Term Elections: The Death of Hope and Change
119. Torture: Video: “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week – Forum on Torture with Marjorie Cohn, Andy Worthington, Shahid Buttar, Debra Sweet and Ray McGovern
120. UK anti-terror laws: Gareth Peirce Discusses Her New Book, “Dispatches from the Dark Side: On Torture and the Death of Justice”
121. Torture, George W. Bush: No Appetite for Prosecution: In Memoir, Bush Admits He Authorized the Use of Torture, But No One Cares
122. UK politics: Why I’ll Be Attending the Demonstration Against University Cuts on November 10
123. Guantánamo, Torture, Aafia Siddiqui: Video: Shafiq Rasul and Ruhal Ahmed Discuss US Detention at Kandahar, Bagram and Guantánamo with Andy Worthington at “Eid Without Aafia Siddiqui” Event
124. Guantánamo and habeas corpus: Court Orders Rethink on Tortured Guantánamo Prisoner’s Successful Habeas Petition (Mohamedou Ould Slahi)
125. Radio interviews: On Antiwar Radio, Andy Worthington Discusses Bush’s War Crimes and “Congressional Depravity” on Guantánamo
126. Torture, George W. Bush: On Bush’s Waterboarding Claims, UK Media Loses Its Moral Compass
127. UK anti-terror laws: Are Control Orders About To Be Scrapped?
128. UK politics: 50,000 Students Revolt: A Sign of Much Greater Anger to Come in Neo-Con Britain
129. UK politics: The Cruelty and Stupidity of the Government’s Welfare Reforms
130. UK politics: On Housing Benefit Cuts, British Public Reveals Shocking Lack of Empathy and Compassion
131. UK complicity in torture, Shaker Aamer: As the UK Government Announces Compensation for Ex-Guantánamo Prisoners, Is the Return of Shaker Aamer Part of the Deal?
132. Closing Guantánamo: On Guantánamo, Obama Hits Rock Bottom
133. The remaining prisoners in Guantánamo: Who Are the Remaining Prisoners in Guantánamo? Part Eight: Captured in Afghanistan (2002-07)
134. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: Amnesty Students Say “Bring Shaker Aamer Home from Guantánamo”
135. UK complicity in torture, Shaker Aamer: The UK Government’s Guantánamo Guilt, and the Urgent Need for Shaker Aamer’s Return
136. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Federal court trials: Morris Davis, Former Guantánamo Chief Prosecutor, Nails Critics of the Federal Court Trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
137. UK complicity in torture, Moazzam Begg, Shaker Aamer: Moazzam Begg Explains How Ex-Guantánamo Prisoners Offered to Forego Compensation for Return of Shaker Aamer
138. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: Send a Letter to Your MP Demanding the Release from Guantánamo of Shaker Aamer
139. UK complicity in torture, Moazzam Begg: Moazzam Begg in The Independent: The UK Government “Would Not Have Paid Up If They Thought They Could Win”
140. UK politics: Did You Miss This? 100 Percent Funding Cuts to Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Courses at UK Universities
141. “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo”: Revolutionary Spirit in Bangor, at a Screening of “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo”
142. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, Federal court trials: The Rule of Law in the US Hangs on Obama’s Response to the Ghailani Trial
143. Radio interviews: Guantánamo: Andy Worthington’s In-Depth Interview with Christopher Renner of Community Bridge Radio
144. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: Send a Letter to William Hague Asking Him to Demand Shaker Aamer’s Return to the UK from Guantánamo
145. Guantánamo media: My Exchange About Guantánamo with Benjamin Wittes, Advocate of “Military Detention without Trial”
146. UK politics: Cameron’s Britain: “Kettling” Children for Protesting Against Savage Cuts to University Funding
147. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington Discusses Obama’s Failure to Close Guantánamo with Brad Friedman on the Mike Malloy Show

December 2010

148. WikiLeaks, Guantánamo: The Irrelevance of Wikileaks’ Guantánamo Revelations
149. Guantánamo campaigns: Please Sign Petition Asking Eric Holder to Release Fayiz Al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti Aid Worker in Guantánamo
150. WikiLeaks, Guantánamo, Moazzam Begg: Guantánamo and the Wikileaks Documents, Including Yemeni and Uighur “Problems,” and Praise for Moazzam Begg
151. Torture: All Guantánamo Prisoners Were Subjected to “Pharmacological Waterboarding”
152. UK anti-terror laws: Lord Carlile, Discredited Advocate of Control Orders, Presents Flawed Alternative
153. WikiLeaks, Aafia Siddiqui: Wikileaks: Numerous Reasons to Dismiss US Claims that “Ghost Prisoner” Aafia Siddiqui Was Not Held in Bagram
154. Aafia Siddiqui: Video: Andy Worthington Speaks at “Bring Aafia Siddiqui Home,” November 14, 2010
155. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington, Asim Qureshi and Jason Leopold Discuss Guantánamo, Human Experimentation and the Global Reach of the “War on Terror” with Peter B. Collins
156. UK politics: Biggest Student Protest on Thursday, as Parliament Votes on Tuition Fees
157. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: “A Day for Shaker Aamer” on Saturday — and Postcards to Send to William Hague and to Shaker in Guantánamo
158. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: Urge Your MP to Sign Caroline Lucas’ Early Day Motion Calling for the Return of Shaker Aamer and the Closure of Guantánamo
159. WikiLeaks, Torture: WikiLeaks’ Revelations that Bush and Obama Put Pressure on Germany and Spain Not to Investigate US Torture
160. Radio interviews: Andy Worthington Discusses Guantánamo and WikiLeaks on Antiwar Radio
161. Targeted kilings, Accountability: Anwar Al-Awlaqi: Judge Rules that President’s Decision to Assassinate US Citizens Abroad, Without Due Process or Explanation, is “Judicially Unreviewable”
162. UK politics: Government Wins University Tuition Fees Vote, But So What? Remember the Poll Tax!
163. UK politics: Heroes and Villains in the Tuition Fees Vote
164. Campaigns: On Human Rights Day, Public Figures Call for Worldwide Ban on Solitary Confinement and Prisoner Isolation
165. Shaker Aamer: On Human Rights Day, A Call to Release Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo
166. Aafia Siddiqui: Cageprisoners Discusses the Repatriation of Aafia Siddiqui with Pakistan’s Interior Minister
167. Torture, Book reviews: Torture and Abuse on the USS Bataan and in Bagram and Kandahar: An Excerpt from “My Life with the Taliban” by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef
168. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: Report on “A Day for Shaker Aamer” and Screenings of “Outside the Law” — and a Message of Support from Ken Livingstone
169. Closing Guantánamo, Guantanamo and Congress: Guantánamo: A Dismal Week for America
170. WikiLeaks, Julian Assange: Ten Thoughts About Julian Assange and WikiLeaks
171. UK politics: Video: 15-Year Old Tells UK Government Why It Has Radicalised A Generation
172. Music: Summoning Up the Spirit of Ronnie Lane: The Triumphant Return of Slim Chance
173. Guantánamo campaigns, Shaker Aamer: Tell the UK and US Governments We Need A Deadline for the Return of Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo
174. Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks: Is Bradley Manning Being Held as Some Sort of “Enemy Combatant”?
175. Ahmed Belbacha, UK complcity in torture: Lawyers for Ahmed Belbacha, Guantánamo Prisoner and Former UK Resident, Sue UK Government Over Refusal to Disclose Evidence of His Abuse
176. Guantánamo and Congress, Closing Guantánamo: Guantánamo Prisoners Sacrificed in Political Horse-Trading
177. Torture: More Evidence of Medical Experimentation at Guantánamo
178. Torture: Video: “Berkeley Says No to Torture” Week — Jason Leopold and Jeff Kaye Discuss Human Experimentation at Guantánamo
179. Closing Guantánamo, Barack Obama: President Obama Loses the Plot on Guantánamo
180. Closing Guantánamo, Yemenis in Guantanamo: Christmas at Guantánamo
181. Guantánamo and Congress, Barack Obama, Closing Guantánamo: With Indefinite Detention and Transfer Bans, Obama and the Senate Plumb New Depths on Guantánamo
182. Torture: Hounding a Torture Judge: A Report by Susan Harman on the Campaign to Impeach Jay S. Bybee

Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook and Twitter). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in July 2010, details about the new documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, currently on tour in the UK, and available on DVD here), my definitive Guantánamo habeas list and the chronological list of all my articles, and, if you appreciate my work, feel free to make a donation.