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OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 10/31/15

Shaker Aamer, Known For Guantanamo Resistance, Released

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Kevin Gosztola
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Indeed, in 2005, his daughter, Johina, who is now 17, wrote to then-British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.


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by Kevin Gosztola


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"Can you please help me bring my dad any time? He was there for about 5 or 6 months. I wrote him many letters before. He used to love me when he was with us all. We all are sad and depressed. We used to cry a lot for him. Sometimes my mum cries a lot on her bed or on her chair and on the floor and I don't know how to stop her. Sometimes when she used to cry then I cried.

"I want my dad back tomorrow," Johina pleaded. She asked Straw to to help her dad get out from Guantanamo.

British Complicity in U.S. Torture and Detention of Aamer

Sadly, there is ample evidence British authorities and officials were indifferent to the pain and anguish of the Aamer family. They heard their protest but did not aggressively act to free Aamer.

Clive Stafford Smith, a Reprieve attorney who represented Aamer, previously alleged that Aamer could "describe in detail how a U.K. intelligence agent was present while he was beaten."

"A British operative, he claims, was present as a U.S. interrogator repeatedly smashed his head against a wall shortly before he was sent to Guantanamo," The Guardian reported in 2013. "Described as articulate and highly intelligent, Aamer's allegations of British complicity in his torture and detention would undoubtedly reopen the vexed and fraught debate over British complicity in the darker side of America's 'war on terror.' Aamer has already announced he is suing MI5 and MI6 for defamation."

Aamer was captured in Afghanistan while doing charity work. As summarized by the advocacy organization, CAGE, after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan following the September 11th attacks, Aamer was separated from family.

"He got as far as Jalalabad where an Afghani family turned him in," CAGE recounts [PDF]. "He was sold to the Northern Alliance who then subsequently handed him over to another group in Kabul. When he heard the sounds of American accents, he was filled with relief at the thought that at last he might be rescued, however, to his dismay he had only been sold again."

While in custody at a U.S. military prison at the Kandahar airport in Afghanistan, according to journalist Andy Worthington, Aamer "apparently called almost immediately for hunger strikes to protest about the abusive treatment to which the prisoners were subjected, and he also claimed that he was subjected to serious abuse by U.S. forces, but also in the presence of a British intelligence officer, after he was transferred to the U.S. prison at Bagram airbase. This was not revealed until December 2009, in a court case in the U.K., when a judge granted his lawyers access to information in the British government's possession that dealt with his claims."

Aamer recalled that while in Kandahar military officers jumped "up and down on me in their boots, on my back and head. Yelling about my religion, my family and my race. A soldier took the holy Quran and threw it in the sh*t bucket on the floor."

Upon leaving Bagram, he was tied with other prisoners and forced to keep his hands in the air. Prisoners who could not keep their hands up were "hit on the head."

At Guantanamo, he experienced torture as he was stripped naked, beaten, and had fingers shoved in his anus to further humiliate him.

He wrote back in 2005:

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Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com
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