To sign this petition, visit http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29410.
From the London Guantánamo Campaign: 14th February marked the tenth anniversary of the detention without charge or trial of Shaker Aamer, the last Londoner held in Guantánamo Bay. To mark this anniversary, Shaker’s family and his solicitor, Gareth Peirce, launched an e-petition to the Foreign Office. If 100,000 signatures are collected on this e-petition by 14th May, it will trigger a debate in Parliament on this issue. Please add your name to the petition and ask your friends and family to do so as well.
Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national, is a British resident from south London. He has a British wife and children, the youngest of whom he has never met. An aid worker in Afghanistan, he was picked up by US forces in the country. He was tortured there and in Pakistan before being taken to Guantánamo Bay. He alleges that British intelligence agents were present on one occasion when he was tortured in Afghanistan: this claim is currently subject to a police investigation.
Shaker Aamer was cleared for release by the Pentagon in 2007 and his return to the UK was formally sought by the British Government in August that year. Four other men whose return was sought at the same time have since returned. Both the British and US Governments claim to be making their best efforts to release Mr Aamer, the most recent being made during talks between William Hague and Hillary Clinton during David Cameron’s visit to the US in March. No reasons have been given, however, for why Shaker Aamer remains there. In the meantime, his health is reported to have deteriorated seriously (according to his lawyers from Reprieve) and his family continue to suffer without him in London. Ten years is enough! Please sign the petition today.
The text of the e-petition is: “Shaker Aamer is a British resident with a British wife and children who has been imprisoned without trial by the US in Bagram Airforce Base and Guantanamo Bay for over ten years. The Foreign Secretary and the Foreign Office must undertake urgent new initiatives to achieve the immediate transfer of Shaker Aamer to the UK from continuing indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay.” (Saeed Siddique, Shaker Aamer’s father-in-law).
•To sign this petition, visit http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29410. To sign the petition, you need to be a British national or resident. Age is irrelevant, so those below voting age can sign too. An email address is necessary.
•For more information, visit:
http://www.reprieve.org.uk/blog/2012_03_27_free_shaker_petition/
•Contact the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign on ssac.contact@gmail.com, tel. 07756-493 877. They can send you flyers about the e-petition to distribute to friends, colleagues, local groups, etc. They also welcome donations to cover the cost of leaflets.
•Contact the London Guantánamo Campaign on london.gtmo@gmail.com.
STOP PRESS FROM ELN: As we post this appeal, there are just under 5,000 signatures on the petition. Come on, folks: Tower Hamlets can double that if we put our minds to it – and there’s no better borough to help with this campaign. Please get this message round all your family and friends and take a couple of minutes to sign up.