Guantanamo campaigns

Announcing the inaugural meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Closure of Guantánamo on Monday April 24, co-chaired by Layla Moran (Lib Dem) and Chris Law (SNP), and with members (MPs and peers) from the Labour Party, the Conservatives and the Green Party. Also attending will be former prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi, and his former guard Steve Wood, and Mohamedou, Steve and I will also be attending screenings of ‘The Mauritanian’, the feature film about Mohamedou’s imprisonment and torture, on April 25, 26 and 28.

Photos from, and my report about the eight coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on April 5, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York, Mexico City, Brussels, Los Angeles, Raleigh, NC and Cobleskill, NY. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 17 men still held (out of 31 in total) who have been approved for release but have no idea when, if ever, they will actually be freed.

Promoting the next coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo, taking place on April 5, 2023 in seven locations worldwide — London, Washington, D.C., New York, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Raleigh, NC and Cobleskill, NY. Also included: a poster showing the 17 men still held who have been approved for release, and an infographic showing how long they have been held since they were told that the U.S. government no longer wanted to hold them.

Photos of, and my report about the coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on March 8, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C. New York and Mexico City. As it was also International Women’s Day, Victoria Brittain, Yvonne Ridley and Kate Hudson of CND spoke at the London vigil, and this article also includes the text of the powerful and poignant speech made by Victoria Brittain.

Promoting the coordinated global vigils for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay on Wednesday March 8, with an updated poster showing the 18 men still held who have been approved for release, and an updated infographic showing how long they have been held since they were told that the US no longer wanted to hold them.

Photos and a report about the first coordinated protests calling for the closure of Guantánamo, and for the release of the 20 men approved for release from the prison, in London and Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2023. More coordinated protests, involving other locations. will be taking place on Wednesday March 8.

Promoting a new infographic I’ve created showing how long the 20 men approved for release from Guantánamo have been held since they were approved for release. In contrast to the 377 days that recently released prisoner Majid Khan had to wait to be freed after the end of his terrorism-related sentence last year, most of these 20 men have been waiting for far longer, and still have no idea when, if ever they will be freed, because their approval for release came through purely administrative processes, which have no legal weight.

My reflections on how, 21 years after Guantánamo opened, the men still held, and those who have been released, are still deprived of fundamental rights as human beings, just as they were when they were first sent to Guantánamo in the first place, to be held as “enemy combatants.”

Videos of myself and Sara Birch, the convenor of the UK Guantánamo Network, speaking at the rally for the closure of Guantánamo in Trafalgar Square on Jan. 14, 2023, marking the 21st anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, after campaigners had marched in orange jumpsuits from the Houses of Parliament, and up Whitehall via 10 Downing Street.

My photos of, and report about an inspiring march and rally for the closure of Guantánamo in central London on January 14, 2023, organised by the UK Guantánamo Network, a coalition of groups including a number of Amnesty International groups and the Close Guantánamo campaign. Also included is a statement by former prisoner Omar Deghayes, which was read out at the rally.