'Free the forgotten prisoners'

2006-02-06 13:30

London - Amnesty International called on Monday for the release of nine British residents it says are held prisoner by United States authorities in Guantanamo Bay.

Nine British citizens were freed from the Cuban camp for terrorist suspects after pressure from the British government, but Amnesty said another nine people with ties to Britain were still being held. Five have been officially identified as Omar Deghayes, Bisher al-Rawi, Jamil al-Banna, Jamal Abdullah and Shaker Aamer.

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty's British wing, said the government's reluctance to act on behalf of British residents was "shameful".

"These men have become forgotten prisoners," she said.

The prison on the US Navy base in Cuba opened in January 2002 and now holds about 500 prisoners from some 40 countries, many captured during the US-led war in Afghanistan after the September 11 2001 attacks. Many have been held for several years without charge or trial.

Amnesty highlighted the case of Libyan-born Deghayes, 35, who was granted refugee status in Britain with his family in the 1980s. The group said he had been held at Guantanamo for more than three years, and has alleged abuse by his captors. Last year he was identified as one of dozens of inmates holding a hunger strike to protest their detention.

Disappointed

"I'm not looking for any special treatment for my brother. I just want his basic human rights to be respected," said his sister, Amani Deghayes.

"What disappoints me most is the unwillingness of the UK government to lift a finger for my brother."

The British government has said it cannot represent people who are not British citizens.

Amnesty, which was releasing a report on Monday on the effects of detention on prisoners' families, renewed calls for the prison camp to be closed.

"After four years Guantanamo has become a byword for abuse and an indictment of the US government's failure to uphold human rights in the war on terror," Allen said.

"The US authorities should immediately close down Guantanamo and either release prisoners or bring them before proper courts on the US mainland."

- AP