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10 Years of Afghan War: Guantánamo-related events to mark anniversary (London)

London Guantánamo Campaign | 06.10.2011 12:40 | Guantánamo | Repression | Terror War | South Coast | World

Friday 7th October marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan on 7th October 2001. Before there was Guantánamo, there were black sites and torture prisons in Afghanistan where such practices continue to be carried out today. Nearly all the prisoners held at Guantánamo had been "processed" and held at the prisons at the Bagram Air Base, Kandahar and the Dark Prison in Kabul before being taken to Guantánamo Bay.

1: Friday 7 October: 6-7pm: Shut Down Guantanamo! demonstration – Afghan War Anniversary Special, US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street)

2: “You Don’t Like The Truth” – Omar Khadr documentary in UK cinemas (release date: 7 October)

3: Saturday 8 October: 10am-8pm: “Ten Hours for Ten Years” Demonstration for Shaker Aamer, Trafalgar Square
-------------------
1: FRIDAY 7 OCTOBER: 6-7PM: Shut Down Guantanamo! demonstration – Afghan War Anniversary Special
US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street)
Friday 7th October marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan on 7th October 2001. Ten years on, thousands of civilians have died and many more face the threat of death through strikes by US unmanned drone attacks. The end of the war seems no closer.

Before there was Guantánamo, there were black sites and torture prisons in Afghanistan where such practices continue to be carried out today. Nearly all the prisoners held at Guantánamo had been "processed" and held at the prisons at the Bagram Air Base, Kandahar and the Dark Prison in Kabul before being taken to Guantánamo Bay. Former British prisoner Moazzam Begg described Bagram as being worse than Guantánamo. Hundreds of prisoners have been held at Bagram which has grown in size and prisoner numbers since Barack Obama became president in 2009. The Oscar-winning documentary film Taxi to the Dark Side charts the torture and demise of a prisoner gratuitously beaten to death by American soldiers in 2002. Countless individuals have also been flown to Afghanistan and tortured and abused in prisons as part of the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme.
To mark this sombre tenth anniversary and to show solidarity with the prisoners, their families and victims of torture, we invite you to join at our monthly demonstration outside the US Embassy on Friday 7th October at 6-7pm.
Also on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190285371044962#!/event.php?eid=190285371044962
Organised by the London Guantánamo Campaign

2: “You Don’t Like The Truth” – Omar Khadr documentary in UK cinemas (release date: 7 October)
Showing at:
The Ritzy – Picture House, Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 1JQ
Please check cinema for times/dates/prices:  http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/
Running time: 99 minutes
YOU DON’T LIKE THE TRUTH - 4 days inside Guantánamo is a documentary based on security camera footage from the Guantánamo Bay prison.
This encounter between a team of Canadian intelligence agents and a child detainee in Guantánamo has never before been seen. Based on seven hours of video footage recently declassified by the Canadian courts this documentary delves into the unfolding high-stakes game of cat and mouse between captor and captive over a four day period. Maintaining the surveillance camera style this film analyzes the political, legal and scientific aspects of a forced dialogue.
 http://www.youdontlikethetruth.com/
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZrERVO19Dg
Reviews:
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045738/16-year-old-Omar-Khadr-interrogated-Guantanamo-Bay.html
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/guantanamo-film-rights-child-soldier

3: Saturday 8 October: 10am-8pm: “Ten Hours for Ten Years” Demonstration for Shaker Aamer, Trafalgar Square (SW corner of Trafalgar Square)
N.B. The mass assembly starts at midday but this action will be ongoing from 10am
Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC) demonstration as part of the Stop The War Coalition’s mass anti-war assembly in Trafalgar Square to mark ten years of the war in Afghanistan.
SSAC's Guantanamo cage will be set up for ten hours from 10am to 8pm. Shaker Aamer is the last British Resident still held in Guantanamo. He is now in his tenth year of detention without charge or trial - a victim of US aggression following 9/11. Our protest is also for all those who have suffered from a decade of mass slaughter and destruction in illegal wars. Millions have died in Iraq and tens of thousands in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Shaker Aamer Campaign urges the UK Government to demand the immediate release of British Resident Shaker Aamer to the UK as a matter of great urgency. The news that Shaker is once more on hunger strike can only lead us to suspect that his health is deteriorating and his life may be in danger. We urge the UK Government to insist on access to Shaker Aamer by an independent medical team with a view to his fitness to travel back to the UK. Shaker's health has suffered from the long years of physical and mental abuse both in Guantanamo and in Afghanistan. He has alleged that he was tortured in Bagram and Kandahar. We call for Shaker to be returned to the UK. Shaker is a UK resident, he has been cleared for release in 2007 and faces no charges or trial. He has been outspoken in his defence of other detainees against the injustice in Guantanamo. After nearly ten years, he is still in Guantanamo, punished for demanding basic human rights denied to those who still remain in Guantanamo. The US and UK Governments must act to bring him home before it is too late.

HOW YOU CAN HELP US ON THE DAY:

1. Please bring your orange jumpsuit or wear orange if possible

2. To help set up - please arrive (SW Corner of Trafalgar Square) at 9.45am.

3. Please volunteer to spend some time in SSAC’s Guantanamo Cage (1hr, 2hr, 3hr etc..) – our aim is to have a presence in the cage from 10am-8pm (10 Hrs)

4. SSAC representatives and others will make statements from the Cage area at intervals throughout the day.

5. There will be open mic sessions when you can make your statements calling on the British government to do more to bring about Shaker's release.

5. The SSAC stall will have letters, cards and petitions to sign – again volunteers are needed to use the Shaker petition around the Square.

6. Maker sure you sign SSAC’s letter to US President Obama – we need thousands signed.

7. Help wanted to blow up balloons printed with the message - SHAKER AAMER, LAST LONDONER IN GUANTANAMO, CLEARED FOR RELEASE IN 2007 BUT STILL NOT BACK. BRING HIM HOME NOW."

8. Placards and boards calling for Shaker’s release back to the UK will be available for press photo shoots and there will be letter boards which will state "Bring Home Shaker Aamer." - this will require 20 volunteers.

All the above will be happening throughout the day.

Organised by the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign (SSAC)

* Please also sign our e-petition to the US ambassador to be delivered to the US Embassy on the 10th anniversary of Guantánamo Bay in January 2012:  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/

London Guantánamo Campaign
- e-mail: london.gtmo [at] gmail.com
- Homepage: www.londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com

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