Human rights lawyer deplores deriding of Guantanamo suicides
-11/06/06
Clive Stafford-
Human rights lawyer deplores deriding of Guantanamo suicides
-11/06/06
Clive Stafford-Smith, the internationally recognised civil rights lawyer, has expressed astonishment and sadness at the attempts by the United States to dismiss the significance of three suicides at Guantanamo Bay, the extra-legal detention centre established at its military base on the island of Cuba.
Stafford-Smith who first volunteered his services to detainees at Guantanamo in 2002, was responding to statements by US government spokesperson Colleen Graffy and camp commander Rear Admiral Harry Harris ñ after two Saudis and a Yemeni were found dead on 10 June 2006.
While human rights advocates say that the suicides illustrate the sheer desperation of men held without due process, outside international law, without charge and with no known prospect of trial or release, Graffy said their deaths amounted to a ìpublic relationsî stunt.
Harris, meanwhile, swept aside humanitarian concerns and declared that the self-inflicted deaths were ìan act of asymmetrical warfare waged against usî.
But Clive Stafford-Smith said that such a response ìbeggars beliefî. He told the BBC that he expects Guantanamo to close within a year. Reprieve, the anti-death penalty charity of which he is legal director, provides direct representation to at least 40 detainees there.
Ms Graffy is US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, but today her dismissive response to the menís death was described by critics as another major diplomatic error on the part of the Bush administration.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Christian Peacemaker Teams are among those who have called for the closure of the camp. The US government is also under pressure from the UN and the international community.
On 9 June 2006 President Bush said he would ìlike to end Guantanamoî, but today Ms Graffy said that this would be ìa complicated processî.
Clive Stafford-Smith has assisted in filing lawsuits on behalf of more than 125 camp detainees. His clients have included Shaker Aamer, Jamil al Banna, Moazzam Begg, Omar Deghayes, Sami Al Hajj, Sami Al Laithi, Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry, Jamal Kiyemba, Benyam Mohammed and Hisham Sliti.
Last August the layer addressed the Greenbelt festival, a major UK Christian event. He told those present about a second hunger strike at Guantanamo, warning that detainees were likely to die soon.
As a result of restrictions imposed by the United States Department of Defence, which subjects lawyersí notes to intelligence scrutiny, Stafford-Smith had to wait 20 days before he could publicly reveal re-commencement of the hunger strikes on 5 August 2005.
One of the reasons for the second hunger strike was to protest about the continuing imprisonment of children at Guantanamo Bay. A number of other unsuccessful suicide attempts have also been made.
Regarding the latest deaths, British Muslim Moazzam Begg, who spent three years in the camp before his innocence of terrorist activities was established, said: ìThey are in a worse situation than convicted criminals and [the deaths are] an act of desperation.î
Begg, a quietly-spoken and thoughtful man who has since written a book about his Guantanamo experiences, called for the release of Norman Kember and the three other members of Christian Peacemaker Teams held hostage in Iraq from November 2005 to March 2006.
[Also on Ekklesia: Christians told of Guantanamo Bay hunger strike; Catholic Worker plans Guantanamo protests over Lent; Government minister joins Christians in calling for Guantanamo Bay closure; Christians face jail after President’s call to visit Guant·namo; Children being held at Guantanamo Bay; Former Guantanamo Bay detainees call for release of Christian Peacemaker]
Human rights lawyer deplores deriding of Guantanamo suicides
-11/06/06
Clive Stafford-Smith, the internationally recognised civil rights lawyer, has expressed astonishment and sadness at the attempts by the United States to dismiss the significance of three suicides at Guantanamo Bay, the extra-legal detention centre established at its military base on the island of Cuba.
Stafford-Smith who first volunteered his services to detainees at Guantanamo in 2002, was responding to statements by US government spokesperson Colleen Graffy and camp commander Rear Admiral Harry Harris ñ after two Saudis and a Yemeni were found dead on 10 June 2006.
While human rights advocates say that the suicides illustrate the sheer desperation of men held without due process, outside international law, without charge and with no known prospect of trial or release, Graffy said their deaths amounted to a ìpublic relationsî stunt.
Harris, meanwhile, swept aside humanitarian concerns and declared that the self-inflicted deaths were ìan act of asymmetrical warfare waged against usî.
But Clive Stafford-Smith said that such a response ìbeggars beliefî. He told the BBC that he expects Guantanamo to close within a year. Reprieve, the anti-death penalty charity of which he is legal director, provides direct representation to at least 40 detainees there.
Ms Graffy is US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, but today her dismissive response to the menís death was described by critics as another major diplomatic error on the part of the Bush administration.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Christian Peacemaker Teams are among those who have called for the closure of the camp. The US government is also under pressure from the UN and the international community.
On 9 June 2006 President Bush said he would ìlike to end Guantanamoî, but today Ms Graffy said that this would be ìa complicated processî.
Clive Stafford-Smith has assisted in filing lawsuits on behalf of more than 125 camp detainees. His clients have included Shaker Aamer, Jamil al Banna, Moazzam Begg, Omar Deghayes, Sami Al Hajj, Sami Al Laithi, Abdul Salam Gaithan Mureef Al Shehry, Jamal Kiyemba, Benyam Mohammed and Hisham Sliti.
Last August the layer addressed the Greenbelt festival, a major UK Christian event. He told those present about a second hunger strike at Guantanamo, warning that detainees were likely to die soon.
As a result of restrictions imposed by the United States Department of Defence, which subjects lawyersí notes to intelligence scrutiny, Stafford-Smith had to wait 20 days before he could publicly reveal re-commencement of the hunger strikes on 5 August 2005.
One of the reasons for the second hunger strike was to protest about the continuing imprisonment of children at Guantanamo Bay. A number of other unsuccessful suicide attempts have also been made.
Regarding the latest deaths, British Muslim Moazzam Begg, who spent three years in the camp before his innocence of terrorist activities was established, said: ìThey are in a worse situation than convicted criminals and [the deaths are] an act of desperation.î
Begg, a quietly-spoken and thoughtful man who has since written a book about his Guantanamo experiences, called for the release of Norman Kember and the three other members of Christian Peacemaker Teams held hostage in Iraq from November 2005 to March 2006.
[Also on Ekklesia: Christians told of Guantanamo Bay hunger strike; Catholic Worker plans Guantanamo protests over Lent; Government minister joins Christians in calling for Guantanamo Bay closure; Christians face jail after President’s call to visit Guant·namo; Children being held at Guantanamo Bay; Former Guantanamo Bay detainees call for release of Christian Peacemaker]