The London Guantánamo Campaign and Brighton Against Guantánamo held a demonstration on Tuesday (17 February) lunchtime to call on the US president to release British resident Binyam Mohamed who has been held at Guantánamo Bay without trial for over four and a half years. Binyam currently faces no charges as the last set of charges (he has been charged three times but has faced no trial) was dropped when the prosecutor resigned in protest last October.
Around 40 people from London and Brighton attended and called on Barack Obama to release Binyam immediately. A British doctor visited Binyam on the weekend at Guantánamo Bay and declared him to be fit to travel, yet he remains in a poor physical and mental condition. He has recently ended the hunger strike he has been on since the beginning of the year. While on hunger strike he was force fed. Activists are concerned about Binyam’s physical and mental health and that he should return to the UK alive.
His case is currently under review and it is up to the US president to release him. Although there is no confirmation of when he is likely to return to the UK, it has been claimed in the newspapers that he may return later in the week.
Earlier in the day, Maria Gallastegui from Peace Strike held a demonstration for Binyam Mohamed in Downing Street calling on the British government to take action too.
Binyam’s situation is URGENT. Please keep putting the pressure on the Foreign Office ( private.office@fco.gov.uk) and call on the UK to step up its efforts to have Binyam released and contact President Obama http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ and call on him to release Binyam now.
While Binyam’s safe return to the UK is our immediate concern, the British and American governments must also come clean on their undeniable involvement in his rendition and torture in 2002-2004; the documents the British government has must be made public. Furthermore, the both governments must act to have the other two British residents – south Londoner Shaker Aamer and Bournemouth man Ahmed Belbacha – returned to the UK as soon as possible. Keep writing/emailing/faxing and keep the pressure up!
Many thanks to everyone who came down to the Embassy during their lunch breaks and who came up from Brighton and Worthing