AIBU To feel sad after reading about this man

[HoppinMad]

I have a growing interest in human rights and concern for the poor treatment of detainees worldwide. I know it doesnt suddenly give me the right to start condemning entire nations and leaders but some of the things that go on during incarcerations have chilled me to the bone. Its so sad that in this day and age prisoners are beaten and confessions can be extracted through torture.
I have been reading about the case of shaker aamer, the last british resident left in guantanamo bay. He has not been charged with anything not ever faced trial. He has in fact been cleared for release since 2007 but still remains there for 11 years, and has never met his youngest child
His story struck a chord with me, i dont know why. Maybe because hes British so we should be doingmore for his release?

AIBU to feel sad for this man and his family, and maybe start helping in campaigning for his release?

I don't really know anything about this man in particular.

However just the one bare fact that in Guantanamo they have all been held without trial post-9/11 is a disgusting travesty. Obama said he'd close it down 5 years ago.

Of course in this country people can be under house arrest without charge or trial indefinitely, so sadly you don't even have to go abroad to be shocked by lack of human rights.

Personally, the fact that my actions are filmed for the vast majority of my typical day feels like a huge infringement of my right to lead my life in privacy from the state and other people. Once that principle was ignored I think the whole idea of civil liberty and personal freedom was eroded in this country. We are very very close to being a police state.

Visit www.saveshaker.org and sign his petition!

British resident but a Saudi national. He's not British.

It needs 100,000 signatures by 20 April to trigger a parliamentary debate, so share the link with your family and friends.

He is a long-term resident with a right to return, not that that makes the injustice any less than if he was a British national.

Here in the UK we hold people in detention indefinitely. It is not in the slightest uncommon for people to be held for 3, 5, 7 years with no idea of when they will be released.

What is their 'crime' that justifies this? Being foreign and coming from a country that won't accept them back.

Sometimes they start off in detention because they have served a criminal sentence, but I am talking about these periods of detention starting after they have finished their criminal sentence. Ironically, the offence that often gets them in detention in the first place is trying to use a false passport to leave the UK!

There are no published figures as to how many people are in this situation, but from professionals trying to get these people released, the figures are certainly in the multiple dozens, and quite possibly into 3 figures.

So this charity that he was working for - which remains oddly un named in anything I've read - why haven't they validated his claims?

Thanks for the petition link rhonda, signed it some weeks ago, but the target needs to be reached and the signatures are no where near enough yet i hope whoever reads up about him and his incarceration do go on to sign it. I hope you dont mind me making the link clicky www.saveshaker.org

Holly, we know he isnt a British citizen, he is a british resident, married to a british citizen and has british children, so to you he isnt considered british? Or worthy of our help or have his voice heard?

Thanks for making the link clicky, Hoppin.

Will you be signing the petition, Holly? If you're in any doubt about whether he deserves our support or whether he is even guilty of any charge, read the information on The Amnesty International website. You may feel that disclosing the name of the charity for whom he worked is key to you deciding whether he's worthy of clemency, but in fact he has never been charged with any crime - in 11 years. If he was guilty, that would not be the case. And remember, it is not the role of the accused to prove he or she is innocent, it's the job of the prosecutors, who have not even identified a crime for which he could be accused.

Why does it matter what nationality he is? If you believe he needs help then whether he is British or not shouldn't matter at all.

You are aware that there are immigration detention centres in the UK where people (some of whom are extremely vulnerable) are locked up indefinitely having not commited any crime?

I dont know Holly, why dont you go to Afghanistan and find out which charity he helped/worked for? There were hundred of national, international and local charity workers, and some independent ones not necessarily affiliated to a charity but investing time and money trying to make a diference in a war torn poverty stricken country
Whatever your skepticism he has been locked up for 11 years and there is not a shred of evidence to incriminate him, he is slowly losing his sanity and according to his lawyer gradually dying. Does anyone really deserve that?

What's Saudi Arabia's reason for not wanting him back? Or why won't he go back there?

His family resides in Britain, he if released has every right legally to live in Britain so why should he be sent to Saudi Arabia, a county notorious for its torture of prisoners (esp political prisoners may I add) and shocking human rights record.

Sorry for typos country not county

Wow, some people are obtuse. I am British but am a permanent resident of Canada. My family live here, I pay taxes here, my life is here. If I were detained without trial I would hope that both Canada and the UK would fight for my release. I would also hope to return to Canada, not the UK, seeing as DD and DH are in Canada. Not suspicious...