30.9.20
A cross-post, with my own introduction, of a detailed proposal for how the prison at Guantánamo Bay can be closed, if Donald Trump is removed from the White House in November, as written by representatives of six NGOs for the Just Security website.
9.9.20
My thoughts as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition hearing begins at the Old Bailey in London, with the US government, under Donald Trump, seeking to extradite him to face espionage charges that would lead to him spending the rest of his life in a US prison, if convicted.
2.9.20
The significance of an appeals court ruling, written by Trump appointee Neomi Rao, claiming that the Guantánamo prisoners do not have due process rights, contrary to Boumediene v. Bush, the 2008 Supreme Court ruling affirming their habeas corpus rights, and a ruling last year, Qassim v. Trump, establishing their due process rights, in direction contravention of this latest ruling.
11.8.20
Drawing on an excellent article about COVID-19 and American exceptionalism by the anthropologist Wade Davis for Rolling Stone, I look at the crisis of leadership in the US when it comes to dealing with the unprecedented challenges for our economic future caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and compare how similar failures of leadership also plague the UK.
27.7.20
Here’s a cross-post, with my own introduction, of a poignant and powerful letter from Guantánamo, published by Esquire Middle East. The letter was written by Abdul Latif Nasser, a Moroccan prisoner, approved for release in 2016, but still held, who describes the difficulty of coming to terms with the terrible truth that, under Donald Trump, there is no chance that he will be freed.
23.7.20
My report on the Trump administration’s sickening policy of sending federal law enforcement officers into Portland, Oregon and other US cities, teargassing protestors, bypassing local law enforcement, and raising fears of the kinds of behaviour that typify police states.
13.7.20
I look at what we might expect if Joe Biden beats Donald Trump in November’s Presidential Election, noting that it would be impossible for Biden to be worse than Trump, but also noting that, the last time a Democrat was in the White House (Barack Obama), he failed to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, despite promising to do so on his second day in office.
5.3.20
My report on today’s great news that the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has approved an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since May 2003 by US armed forces and members of the CIA, the Taliban and affiliated armed groups, and Afghan government forces, reversing a decision last year not to proceed with the investigation, which was widely perceived to have come about in response to pressure exerted by the Trump administration. Interestingly, although the US is not a party to the ICC Statute, the Court has jurisdiction over crimes committed by US actors in the territories of other State Parties to the ICC, and the investigation is, therefore, also empowered to look at crimes committed since July 2002 outside Afghanistan – at, for example, “black sites” in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.
31.1.20
Here’s the video of the panel discussion about Guantánamo that I undertook at the New America think-tank in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 13, with the attorney Tom Wilner. I co-founded the “Close Guantánamo” campaign with Tom in 2012, and we’re grateful that New America has been hosting panel discussions about Guantánamo every year for many years. This year there was a real urgency and anger to our call for the prison to be closed, brought about by three years of Donald Trump effectively sealing the prison shut, even though holding people indefinitely without charge or trial is profoundly unacceptable.
16.1.20
My report about my US tour, five days in, including a link to my photos of the rally calling for the closure of Guantánamo outside the White House on Saturday (January 11), marking the 18th anniversary of the opening of the prison.
Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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