Saturday, August 24, 2013

MEDIA RELEASE: Activists to mark 200 days of Guantánamo Hunger Strike at Notting Hill Carnival, Sunday 25th August, 1-3pm


24 August 2013 - For immediate release
On Sunday 25 August, the current hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay will enter its 200th day.  Thirty seven prisoners are currently reported to be on hunger strike, almost all of whom are said to be force fed by nasal tube [1]. The hunger strikers being force fed include British residents Shaker Aamer [2] and Ahmed Belbacha [3].
Activists from the London Guantánamo Campaign [4] will hold an action at the Notting Hill Carnival in west London at 1-3pm with activists in orange jumpsuits and black hoods to raise awareness of this increasingly desperate situation.
Aisha Maniar, an organiser from the London Guantánamo Campaign, said:
“Just as President Obama’s recent pledges to take action on Guantánamo Bay bring the world no nearer to the closure of this twenty first century concentration camp, the recent reported fall in the number of prisoners on hunger strike is not indicative that the action is coming to an end. This is not a question of statistics or a maths problem, but the more fundamental issue of how the US can continue to imprison 166 men, almost wholly without charge or trial for nearly 12 years, and then counter their legitimate, peaceful protest with violence and torture?”
Contact:          E-mail: london.gtmo@gmail.com     
           
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR
1. http://www.miamiherald.com/static/media/projects/gitmo_chart/ There are currently 166 prisoners still held at Guantánamo Bay.
4. The London Guantánamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com  

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