Life after Guantanamo

A Glimpse of Light in the Darkness, As Former Guantánamo Prisoner Mansoor Adayfi is Welcomed to the UK Parliament

22.11.23

My report about the inspiring visit to the Houses of Parliament last week by former Guantánamo prisoner Mansoor Adayfi, where he was welcomed by Chris Law MP, the co-chair of the recently established All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Closure of the Guantánamo Detention Facility.

Video: My Impassioned Speech at the EU Parliament’s “Close Guantánamo!” Event on Sep. 28, 2023

26.10.23

The video of my speech at the inspiring “Close Guantánamo!” event at the European Parliament on September 28, 2023, hosted by the Irish MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, at which I stressed how the men still held at Guantánamo are as fundamentally without rights as they were when the prison first opened nearly 22 years ago, and called on EU countries to help resettle the men approved for release but who cannot be repatriated.

Video and Report: The Incredibly Powerful “Close Guantánamo!” Event in the EU Parliament, September 28, 2023

1.10.23

My detailed report about, and the video of ‘Close Guantánamo!’, an extraordinary and hugely powerful three-hour event held at the EU Parliament on September 28, 2023, featuring nine speakers, including Mansoor Adayfi (on what was only his second trip to freedom since he finally got a passport earlier this year) and two other former prisoners, two lawyers, a UN Rapporteur, myself and others, hosted by the inspiring independent Irish MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace. As the event highlighted, the priorities for anyone concerned with justice, and with bringing to an end Guantánamo’s vile existence, are to resettle 16 men still held who have been approved for release (for which the countries of EU can help), providing adequate medical care for everyone still held at the prison, reminding the US government that it continues to have an obligation to ensure the welfare of former prisoners, even after their release, and, eventually, seeking accountability for the crimes that the US government has committed, and still continues to commit at Guantánamo.

The Long Struggle To Save Former Prisoner Ravil Mingazov From A Fate Worse Than Guantánamo — Seven Years’ Arbitrary Imprisonment in the UAE

20.9.23

The shameful story of Ravil Mingazov, a Russian Tatar held at Guantánamo for 14 years, then sent to the UAE, where he has been imprisoned for nearly seven years, in harsh conditions, despite having been promised that he would be helped to rebuild his life as a free man. His son and wife were granted asylum in the UK in 2014, and campaigners here in the UK are currently involved in efforts to persuade the British government to bring him to the UK to rejoin his family.

Photos and Report: The Latest Parliamentary Meeting on Guantánamo and an Amnesty Event I Chaired with Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Mansoor Adayfi

2.7.23

My report about last week’s Guantánamo events in London – the second meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Closure of the Guantánamo Detention Facility, attended by former prisoners Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Moazzam Begg, and an Amnesty International event featuring Mohamedou, and, via Zoom, former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi.

Guantánamo in London: Parliamentary Meeting on June 26, Amnesty Event on June 28

23.6.23

Promoting the second meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Closing the Guantánamo Detention Facility in the Houses of Parliament on Monday June 26, attended by former prisoners Mohamedou Ould Slahi and Mansoor Adayfi (on his first UK visit), followed by an event at Amnesty International’s UK headquarters in London on Wednesday June 28, at which Mohamedou and Mansoor will discuss writing in prison, and I will be moderating.

Guantánamo In Its 22nd Year: “The US Created a Category of Prisoners With No Rights Whatsoever”

1.2.23

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.”

If You Can, Please Support the Guantánamo Survivors Fund This Holiday Season

22.12.22

Publicising a fundraising appeal by the Guantánamo Survivors Fund, which was established in April this year to provide help with medical care, rent, language classes, tuition and job training for former prisoners abandoned by the US after their release.

Video: “Guantánamo Diary Revisited” – Q&A with Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Director John Goetz and Andy Worthington

5.5.22

Linking to the video of a recent Q&A, featuring Mohamedou Ould Slahi, John Goetz and myself, following a screening of Goetz’s powerful documentary film, “Guantánamo Diary Revisited,” made available by its distributors in the US and Canada, Cinema Libre Studio. In the film, Goetz assists Slahi in tracking down some of those involved in his torture, the intention being to invite them to tea, and to let them know that he has forgiven everyone responsible for his torture.

Video: Q&A with Mohamedou Ould Salahi, Kevin Macdonald, Nancy Hollander and I at Screening of ‘The Mauritanian’ in Tunbridge Wells

24.4.22

Linking to and discussing the video of the powerful Q&A session that followed a screening of ‘The Mauritanian’ in Tunbridge Wells on March 20, 2022, featuring former Guantánamo prisoner Mohamedou Ould Salahi, whose story is told in the film.

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Andy Worthington

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. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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