Today, the High Court judges ruled in favour of the government position that they (the government) cannot make
representations on their behalf as they are not British citizens. This does not affect the Foreign Office's decision to make representations on behalf of Mr El-Rawi (which shows that the government could, if it wanted to, do so for the other British residents imprisoned in Guantanamo) and this process is currently underway.

It is more than likely that the High Court decision will be appealed.


who are the detainees?

Omar Deghayes: a Libyan national from Brighton, he came to the UK with his family in 1986 and was granted refugee status in 1987. His family fled Libya after his father, a prominent trade union leader, was arrested and murdered by the Ghaddafi regime in 1980. All of his family have since become British nationals except him. A law graduate, he decided to travel after finishing his studies and went to
Afghanistan where he met and married his wife. In the wake of 9/11, he and his family left Afghanistan for Pakistan where they were all captured. His wife and baby were released but Omar was sent to Bagram and then on to Guantanamo. Omar is the victim of mistaken identity: he was mistaken for a Chechen fighter in a video seized by the Spanish authorities. The real combatant in the video’s identity has
since been verified, yet Omar continues to be detained. In Guantanamo, he has lost sight in his right eye; his eye was poked by a soldier and saturated with pepper spray. Bright
neon lights that are kept on continuously hurt his eye. The British government claims that it is for the Libyan government to represent him, yet when he was visited by Libyan officials in Guantanamo, they threatened to kill him if he returned to the country.

Jamil Al-Banna: a Jordanian national, he was granted refugee status along with his wife in 1997. He has five children, all of whom are British citizens. He was arrested at Banjul Airport in Gambia in November 2002 along with Bisher Al-Rawi; six months later his wife gave birth to a daughter he has never met. Jamil and Bisher were good friends and were nowhere near the combat zone in Afghanistan when they were seized. Events leading up to their arrest started to unfold even before they left the UK for Gambia where they were to meet Bisher’s older brother Wahab, a British citizen, to set up a peanut processing factory; they were first detained
at Gatwick Airport for carrying a dangerous weapon in their luggage – a battery charger sold on the high street! They were then arrested upon arrival at Banjul Airport. Wahab Al-Rawi and another man, also a British national, were questioned and later released. Jamil and Bisher were questioned and then rendered to Afghanistan for a month. During this time, their families had no idea of where they were. They were then sent to Guantanamo in February 2003. Jamil was tortured in Afghanistan. He has lost a large amount of weight while being detained in Guantanamo; he is also diabetic and has suffered health problems due to inadequate care for his condition. In spite of his legal status in the UK, the British government has not taken any steps to try to secure his release.

Bisher Al-Rawi: an Iraqi national, whose family fled Saddam Hussein’s regime after his father was arrested and tortured, he has long enjoyed legal status in the UK. His family has lived in the UK for over 20 years. They are all UK citizens apart from Bisher. The story of his arrest and rendition to Guantanamo is the same as Jamil’s.

Ahmed Ben Bacha: an Algerian who lived in Bournemouth. Little is known about his case.

Shaker Aamer: a Saudi national who came to the UK in 1996. He is married to a British national and has four British children, the oldest of whom is 8 years old.
At the time of his arrest, he was in the process of applying for British nationality. His wife gave birth to his youngest son after his arrest and he has never seen him. While working as a volunteer for a Saudi charitable organisation, he was captured in Afghanistan in January 2002 and was tortured in Afghani jails in Kabul, Bagram and Kandahar before being transferred to Guantanamo. The regime of torture and humiliation has continued at Guantanamo and Shaker currently suffers from many health problems. If returned to Saudi Arabia, it is more than likely that he will be jailed there. Given that he has a wife and children in the UK who are British citizens, there is a strong case for him to be returned here.

The British government has yet to make any representations on his behalf.


Ahmed Errachidi: a Moroccan national and father of two, he lived in London for 18 years where he worked as a chef, earning a commendation for his work. He travelled to Pakistan in 2001 to start a business venture to raise funds for a desperately-needed heart operation for his son. He was sold by Pakistani bounty hunters to the US military in Islamabad. He was then transferred to jails in Afghanistan before being transferred to Guantanamo. He was kept in solitary isolation as a punitive measure for over two years.

Binyam Mohammed: an Ethiopian national, he came to the UK in 1994 where he was granted refugee status. He had gone to Afghanistan to learn about Islam and tried desperately to leave the country after the war broke out; however, his travel documents were stolen and he was seized in Pakistan trying to return to the UK in April 2002. A victim of “extraordinary rendition”, he was rendered to Morocco
where he was tortured for 18 months. He was then returned to jail in Afghanistan for a further five months and was also sent to Bagram before being moved on to Guantanamo in September 2004. In November 2005, he was charged with conspiring to plot terror attacks against the USA; the evidence against him was extracted under torture in Morocco. .

Abdulnour Sameur: an Algerian refugee granted refugee status in 2000. He was seized in Pakistan.