Shabnum Mustapha: Aamer release is vital to UK inquiry into detention

TODAY marks ten years since the first detainees were transferred to the US detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

According to US authorities, 779 detainees have been held there, the majority without trial. Today, 171 detainees remain, their most basic of human rights ignored, subject to physical and mental torture, with no access to legal redress.

In the report, Guantanamo: a Decade of Damage to Human Rights, Amnesty International is calling on all people and politicians to demand more strongly than ever that this human rights aberration finally be closed.

But only one man has the power to do that. When Barack Obama entered the White House in January 2009 he signed an order pledging to shut down the detention centre within 12 months, arguing that “it would further the national security and foreign policy objectives of the United States and the interests of justice”.

Three years on and still it remains open, a shameful reminder of how humanity and justice can be flouted in the name of security. If Obama wants to reverse the legacy of his predecessor and abide by international law, he must close Guantanamo now. Detainees should be charged or prosecuted in fair trials, or released to countries that will respect their human rights.

The continued use of special military tribunals to try detainees is unacceptable – declared illegal by the US Supreme Court in 2006, they produce the absurd result that even if a man is acquitted he is not guaranteed to be released.  

The UK government also has its role to play. Last year, Amnesty International called on David Cameron to pressure Obama for the release of British national Shaker Aamer, transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2002. Not only is Aamer being held illegally – there have been no charges brought, no trial and accusations of torture – he is also needed as a key witness in the pending UK inquiry into British involvement in the mistreatment of detainees held overseas. It will be ironic if Britain’s examination of its role in this mistreatment is hampered by the non-appearance of a key witness – precisely because he is illegally detained.

• Shabnum Mustapha is Amnesty International’s programme director for Scotland.