St George's Day promises to be empty

Follow @JohnPlatinumG As well as being St George's Day today marks the death of English playwright, William Shakespeare. To the day it is a month since I last blogged. More importantly it is the first anniversary of Barack Obama's last big promise to close Guantanamo Bay. It was a promise he made at his electoral address which held out hope for those in the world who believe in justice. It was however an empty promise.

Empty promises are the mouthwash of most politicians. They gargle with them, clean out some bacteria and spit them out repeatedly as though tomorrow will be a new day. But the truth is these promises are meaningless and empty. David Cameron cannot get Shaker Aamer home. Barack Obama cannot close Guantanamo. It is necessary to find out who owns our politicians. Then justice might be seen to be done.

The shame of Shaker Aamer's wrongful incarceration for 12 years.

Follow @JohnPlatinumG On Saturday I joined other protesters in London in concern for the shameful, illegal and immoral imprisonment of Shaker Aamer in Guantanamo Bay. Shaker has been tortured and considering the gravity of the offence of human-torture in this age of enlightenment from western states which peddle a myth that we live in a free society, it was rather surprising there were not more people present to mark the twelve years of this total injustice. There again, few spoke out about the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War.

Protesters pass the mosque where Shaker used to worship

Shaker's imprisonment is a total injustice because he is innocent of any crime, has been cleared for release twice by two separate US investigations, the first six years ago, the second four years ago, the latter during Obama's term of office. Obama himself has confirmed that it is an injustice to keep him in Guantanamo concentration camp. Barrack Obama is president of the United States, yet it seems he is answerable to some higher authority, because although he has approved Shaker's release, he has not acted on that approval. Likewise in the UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague have called for Shaker's return. As one of the speakers, Guardian journalist Victoria Brittain, pointed out there is a likely conflict between the security services and government, because the UK security services are allegedly complicit in his torture when Shaker was first arrested. Anyway the UK is just a pawn in the US middle game, subservient and dispensable.

Also on the platform was independent journalist Andy Worthington who wrote The Guantanamo Files (Pluto Press 2007) and has been a doughty campaigner on human rights' abuses for many years. He made an impassioned delivery regarding the injustice and how frustrated we all feel that the best Cameron and Hague can do is write to Shaker in Guantanamo. Shaker remains in prison because the UK secret services are party to the torture of an innocent man, as is former Home Secretary Jack Straw, who must have approved this torture. So to protect the guilty an innocent man is made to suffer. He suggested, tongue-in-cheek that we should occupy William Hague's office. That is how frustrating it is becoming. What do we need to do to make our leaders do the right thing?

Hamja Ahsan speaking about his brother's imprisonment in a US Supermax prison

The brother of Talha Ahsan told of another injustice emanating from the desk of current Home Secretary, Theresa May, the extradition of Talha to the US together with Babar Ahmad. These wrongly-served men cannot see their families, have collectively spent 16 years in prison without trial, and are currently being held 23 hours every day in solitary confinement. I have covered their plights in previous blog-posts and with every passing day it is another day of injustice and torture for them and their families. One day justice might be seen to be done. The so-called 'war on terror' has been a turning point in the UK legal system because the anti-terrorism acts the 'war on terror' has spawned have led to breaches in the first principle of habeas corpus. These terrorist acts have not been committed by men with weapons but by the US and UK governments themselves. Shame on them!

One hundred years of prisoner-of-war 'reform'

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Ruhleben Camp was situated on the outskirts of Berlin at the outbreak of the First World War. It was a converted racecourse which housed foreigners in its buildings. Prisoners had some difficulties getting certain products especially food, but it was a civilised and thriving community, which though monitored by sentries gave prisoners a degree of interned freedom and self-respect. There were all kinds of activities like chess-clubs, a theatrical society, a debating society, an orchestra, tennis-club and other sports clubs. They even had their own elections and prison magazine called "In Ruhleben Camp"..

Compare that with Guantanamo Bay, a similar type of internment camp for untried prisoners, a century later and the regression in prisoner rights is diabolical. They have no rights (or very few) and no hope. It is a disgrace to the reputation of the United States. At the beginning of its existence when men and boys were first rendered there the torture was even worse than it is today. But conditions are so severe that those held there even today are on hunger-strike against them. Some are still being detained, and force-fed, a torture in itself, although they have been cleared for release for six years, like Shaker Aamer, the last remaining UK citizen. To them it must seem like they are never going to be released. Nearly 800 men and boys have been held there at one time or another, 8 have died there, and all kinds of accusations have been levelled at the authorities including sexual abuse. To my knowledge there has only been one conviction.

That is why I wrote this comparison.