Shaker Aamer released from Guantanamo!
Dear Tracy,
After years of activism by tens of thousands of people from the Amnesty movement and beyond, the U.S. government is finally resolving Shaker Aamer's case.
Friday he returned to the UK, where his family resides - and not a moment too soon.
Shaker Aamer was held in Guantanamo without charge for more than 13 years, even after being cleared for transfer in 2007 by the Bush administration and again by the Obama administration in 2009. During his imprisonment, he alleges he was tortured. He helped lead hunger strikes to protest his and his fellow detainees' detention.
In 2013 he wrote, "I hope I do not die in this awful place."
By the thousands, Amnesty activists took action, calling upon the U.S. government to transfer Shaker Aamer back to the UK or be fairly tried. Friday, those years of action were met with results. Shaker Aamer is no longer one of Guantanamo's forever prisoners.
This is cause for celebration. But there is also much more to be done, and not much time left to do it. The detention center at Guantanamo Bay still holds 112 men. Nearly half, like Shaker Aamer, have been approved for transfer by U.S. national security agencies, but they are still languishing there.
Just as Shaker Aamer has been transferred out, so too should they not be detained one more night behind Guantanamo's walls. They must either be fairly tried or released.
Last year, Shaker Aamer had a rare conversation with his family, during which he begged that people not forget him. Amnesty International and our members never forgot him, and in part because of our work, he has left Guantanamo.
Thank you for your activism.
Sincerely,
Naureen Shah
Director, Security with Human Rights
Amnesty International USA
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