[Ppnews] Shaker Aamer marks eleven years under arrest with no trial, regularly beaten

[Political Prisoner News]

Reprieve +44 (0) 207 553 8166  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Sun 25 Nov 2012)

*Shaker Aamer marks eleven years under arrest with no trial, regularly 
beaten*

This weekend marks eleven years since British resident, and father of 
four, Shaker Aamer was detained. He was subsequently sold for a bounty 
to US forces, tortured in Bagram Air Force Base and Kandahar (with 
British agents as witnesses), before being transferred to Guantánamo Bay 
where he has been held and abused ever since.

Recently declassified documents describe in Shaker’s own words how he 
has been ‘ERF’d’ – subjected to regular, brutal beatings by the 
Emergency Reaction Force – throughout his lengthy imprisonment in 
Guantanamo Bay. Shaker has said: /“The ERF team grab me harshly, bend my 
arms and my head and slam me to the floor. They shackle me and put me in 
the chair.”/

Shaker Aamer has never been charged with any offence, and has been 
cleared for release under both the Bush and Obama administrations. The 
British government have called for him to be returned to his British 
wife and four children in London. He remains imprisoned.

Commenting, *Reprieve’s Director, Clive Stafford Smith,* said: /"Can you 
imagine spending the last eleven years of your life locked up 4000 miles 
from your family, without charges, cleared for release but still 
detained? And on top of that Shaker has been beaten up - or ERF'd in the 
euphemistic language of Guantanamo - 260 times in the last year. Some 
people may be looking forward to a merry Christmas, but Shaker's torment 
is enough to make me choke on my turkey."/

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. For further information please contact Clemency Wells in Reprieve’s 
press office on +44 7739 188 097 / +44 (0)20 7 553 8161 or 
clemency.wells at reprieve.org.uk <mailto:clemency.wells at reprieve.org.uk>

2. See Shaker Aamer’s case page for further details: 
http://reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer/ <%22> .

3. Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human 
rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve 
investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to 
provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. 
Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each 
person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives.  Clive Stafford Smith 
is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of 
people facing the death penalty in the USA.

Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 15 prisoners in the US 
prison at Guantánamo Bay, assisting over 70 prisoners facing the death 
penalty around the world, and conducting ongoing investigations into the 
rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called 
‘war on terror.’ Follow Reprieve on twitter: @ReprieveUK; if you were 
forwarded this release, sign up to join our press mailing list.

Follow Reprieve on twitter: @ReprieveUK; if you were forwarded this 
release, sign up to join our press mailing list 
<http://reprieve.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d176b31fc0ccbde9f3f3a6349&id=5ec45a6b82&e=f8755a10f3>.




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