CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY – PROTEST AT DÁIL EIREANN, 1.00 pm WEDNESDAY 26 JUNE
• UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture 26 June – stop the torture in Guantanamo
• Obama shame – Close Guantanamo Torture Centre now
• Over 100 detainees now on hunger strike and many being force-fed
• Irish Government should speak out against this torture – silence is complicity!
As we mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I call on Member States to step up efforts to assist all those who have suffered from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ….. I urge all Member States to accede to and fully implement the Convention against Torture and support the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. Let us work together to end torture throughout the world and ensure that countries provide reparation for victims.
Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary-General) Message for 2013
Fine words from Ban Ki-moon. But as we remember torture victims on this special day we should be aware that innocent men are being tortured in Guantanamo Bay prison by the US Military. Many of the over 100 prisoners cleared for release who have been incarcerated for over 11 years have, in desperation, gone on hunger strike – some since February this year. This was not raised by our Government last week as the Obamas were being lavishly entertained here at Irish taxpayers expense. Nothing has happened since we protested at the Dáil on 23 May.
CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY – PROTEST AT DÁIL EIREANN, 1.00 pm WEDNESDAY 26 JUNE
• UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture 26 June – stop the torture in Guantanamo
• Obama shame – Close Guantanamo Torture Centre now
• Over 100 detainees now on hunger strike and many being force-fed
• Irish Government should speak out against this torture – silence is complicity!
As we mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I call on Member States to step up efforts to assist all those who have suffered from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ….. I urge all Member States to accede to and fully implement the Convention against Torture and support the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. Let us work together to end torture throughout the world and ensure that countries provide reparation for victims.
Ban Ki-moon (UN Secretary-General) Message for 2013
Fine words from Ban Ki-moon. But as we remember torture victims on this special day we should be aware that innocent men are being tortured in Guantanamo Bay prison by the US Military. Many of the over 100 prisoners cleared for release who have been incarcerated for over 11 years have, in desperation, gone on hunger strike – some since February this year. This was not raised by our Government last week as the Obamas were being lavishly entertained here at Irish taxpayers expense. Nothing has happened since we protested at the Dáil on 23 May.
“More than 100 of the 166 detainees at Guantanamo are starving themselves to death. Twenty-three of them are being force-fed. “They strap you to a chair, tie up your wrists, your legs, your forehead and tightly around the waist,” Fayiz Al-Kandari told his lawyer, Lt. Col. Barry Wingard. Al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo for 11 years, has never been charged with a crime.
“The tube makes his eyes water excessively and blood begins to trickle from the nose. Once the tube passes his throat the gag reflex kicks in. Warm liquid is poured into the body for 45 minutes to two hours. He feels like his body is going to convulse and often vomits,” Wingard added.
The United Nations Human Rights Council concluded that force-feeding amounts to torture. The American Medical Association says that force-feeding violates medical ethics. “Every competent patient has the right to refuse medical intervention, including life-sustaining interventions,” AMA President Jeremy Lazarus wrote to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Yet President Barack Obama continues the tortuous Bush policy of force-feeding hunger strikers.
“I don’t want these individuals to die,” Obama told reporters. In fact, Obama has the power to save the hunger strikers’ lives without torturing them. Eighty-six – more than half – of the detainees remaining at Guantanamo have been cleared for release for the past three years. Section 1028(d) of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act empowers the Secretary of Defense to approve transfers of detainees when it is in the national security interest of the United States. Fifty-six of the 86 cleared detainees are from Yemen. Yet Obama imposed a ban on releasing any of them following the foiled 2009 Christmas bomb plot by a Nigerian man who was recruited in Yemen. Obama must begin signing these certifications and waivers at once.
Indeed, Obama said in his press conference, “I think – well, you know, I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe . . . It hurts us in terms of our international standing . . . It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”
By Marjorie Cohn, Counterpunch, 10 May 2013.
So why does Obama not release the prisoners and close Guantanamo? And why is the Irish Government so silent on the issue? Carlos Werner, an Attorney from Ohio, said on RTE recently that Obama has the absolute power to release the men and close Guantanamo but that he just does not have the courage to do so.
It is truly shocking that these men are still incarcerated in what is effectively a torture centre. The Irish Government has contributed to this scandal by its silence and by allowing Shannon Airport to continually be used by the US military and by rendition flights. It is quite possible that some prisoners at Guantanamo passed through Shannon Airport. There is certainly clear evidence that some of the planes involved in the illegal rendition programme did so – thus implicating the Irish people in this torture regime.
Come along to the IAWM Protest at 1.00pm this Wednesday 26 June at Dáil Eireann and make your voice heard.
Send a clear message to the Irish Government that we want this torture stopped, that these men should be released and that the Guantanamo Bay detention centre should be closed for good. The Irish Government should speak up for victims of torture. They can start with the victims in Guantanamo Bay.
See also
– Article in Guardian by Shaker Aamer, the last British prisoner in Guantanamo – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/14/shaker-aamer-justice-guantanamo
– Letter from prisoner Shaker Aamer –
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/usa-war-on-terror/2444-the-torture-and-humiliation-of-my-guantanamo-hunger-strike-hell-by-shaker-aamer
– Marjorie Cohn, Counterpunch on the over 100 hunger strikers at Guantanamo – http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/usa-war-on-terror/2444-the-torture-and-humiliation-of-my-guantanamo-hunger-strike-hell-by-shaker-aamer
– Simon Carswell’s report in Irish Times 220613 – http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/guant%C3%A1namo-still-haunts-us-11-years-on-1.1439027
For info contact –
Jim Roche, PRO IAWM – 087 647 2737
Lola Hynes, Secretary IAWM – 086 822 8795
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