| Moazzam Begg: Why We Must Demonstrate for the British Residents in Guantanamo Bay |
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| Monday, 09 January 2006 | |
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In the Name of Allah Most Compassionate Most Merciful All praise is to Allah, and prayers and peace be upon the Seal of the Prophets. If we were to all close our eyes for a few moments and imagine, truly imagine, the closest, most beloved person to us in our lives and all the joy they brought us, all the times they cared for and protected us, and the comfort they brought us in the knowledge that they would always be there for us, we'd probably all decide it was a very close relative. If we were now to imagine that same person, one late night, quite suddenly, abducted - dragged, shackled and hooded - from their home (and us), taken to strange and foreign lands, to dark prisons, and then to dog-kennel-like cells, stripped naked, abused, kicked, beaten, starved, humiliated, spat upon, shaved, denied natural light, held in solitary confinement, denied human rights, denied legal rights, denied religious rights, denied communication (with us), held without charge, without trial; witnessing the torture and deaths of others, missing the birth and formative years of their own children, witnessing the desecration of the most sacred things in their lives, seeing the days pass into weeks, months and years - with no end in sight, and being branded the worst of the worst - worse even than the most vicious convicted criminals on the globe - by the most powerful and ruthless men in it, with no possibility at all to challenge them, what would we do? Or rather, what have we done? For the above is no abstract story by Kafka, or the daily violations of humanity that occurs in much of the Third World that we have come to accept. There are people in this country whose 'closest, most beloved relatives' are suffering this plight even as I write. And, as Allah is my witness, no day passes without my own recall of the torment our abducted brothers still face. My family had to 'truly imagine' these atrocities every day for three years, but by the Mercy of the Merciful, their agony came to an end. However, that agony is a daily reality for the relatives of those left behind. My close friend, Shaker Aamer, has asked for the right to die in Guantánamo Bay, where he has been kept for four years. I know him to be a Muslim very strong in his faith and reliance of Divine mercy and justice. For him to have resigned himself to this request only shows the sheer desperation and hopelessness of his situation. Hundreds of detainees have been on hunger strike for months, and are quite ready to see it through to the end. They prefer death to the excruciating daily existence that is forced upon them. And so would I. US Forces, of course, are determined that none of them succeeds in creating such an embarrassment for them, so they have resorted to force-feeding. Even IRA hunger strikers were not force-fed during the height of their campaign in the 70s and 80s. But then that war was not against an, 'evil ideology'. I have met regularly with the relatives of most the British residents. Two of them, the families of Shaker Aamer and Jamil el-Banna, have been gifted with children that have never seen their fathers. And I know exactly what that is like. All of Jamil and Shaker's children are British, as is Shaker's wife, but that has counted for nothing. Not even after Tony Blair last month called - embarrassingly for Bush - Guantanamo 'an anomaly that must be brought to an end.' But what of the Muslims in this country? The scholars of Islam are unanimous that if a Muslim is captured and imprisoned in the West, it becomes obligatory for all the Muslims of the East to come to his aid and secure his release, and vice versa. One of the categories of Zakah - the third pillar of our faith - is fil-riqaab: captives [whose necks are in bondage]. I have no doubt that this category includes, perhaps exclusively today, people like Jamil el-Banna, Shaker Aamer, Omar Deghayes, Ahmed Arrachidi, Bisher al-Rawi, Jamal Kiyemba and Binyam Mohammed - the British residents of Guantánamo Bay. Last month there was a conference hosted by Amnesty International and Reprieve, exlusively to highlight thte plight of those detained by the US in Guantánamo, Bagram, and about rendition. All the former British detainees attended, as did families and representatives of the British residents mentioned. Former detainees and family members came from Bosnia, Yemen, Russia, USA, Canada, Bahrain, Qatar and Germany. All the world's press attended. Almost every human rights organisation and activist on this issue had some input. But the only Muslim organisation from Britain was Cageprisoners. No MCB, no MAB, no MPAC, no JIMAS, no HT, no TJ, no UKIM, no ISB, in fact no Muslim champion of Islamic issues. And I wasn't surprised. But there were [non-Muslim] Lords and Baronesses that came to show their support for our brothers; there were [non-Muslim] American lawyers and activists who spoke out passionately; there were [non-Muslim] UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and the Right to Health that condemned the US denial of human rights; there were [non-Muslim] former victims of torture from countries like Argentina and Guatemala who came to empathise with what they have experienced themselves; there were media [non-Muslim - apart from Al Jazeera] people and film producers who wanted to televise much of what was said. It is my belief that Blair said what he did about Guantanamo (despite its negligible effect) - coincidently on the last day of the conference - as a result of proceedings at this conference. Ironically, I also believe that if many of the above Muslim organisations had known before hand about the presence of all these luminaries and media people, they would have shouted loudest, and been there like a shot. A few weeks ago I was at gathering with the families of the British residents that was hosted by well-known British actors and actresses. Why is it that they care, and yet the Muslims don't? Why is Sir Ian Holm (Lord of the Rings) a patron of the Guantánamo Human Rights Commission? Could it be that these dignitaries and celebrities really do care more about us than our ummah does? Why does Joanna Lumley give up her vital Saturday afternoon to demonstrate support for Omar Deghayes and Shaker Aamer, when most 'Imam Mohammads', 'Sir Ikrams' and 'Lord Faqirs' have never shown such empathy for Muslims from the communities they claim to represent. I am acutely aware of the average Muslim's concern and genuine sympathy for those oppressed around the world. What I am at a loss to understand is the reason for such fear, and even worse, apathy. Some people have used the excuse - often seemingly genuine - that they don't know where to go, or what to do. But I always refer them to what I began this message with: imagine, 'truly imagine, the closest, most beloved....' You'd know exactly what to do. A Muslim scholar, Salman al-Awdah, who had previously been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for several years, spoke about those detained by the US in Guantánamo and elsewhere: We must pray for the prisoners of war. They are our brothers. We must do this knowing that it is just a small fraction of the rights that they have over us. We must feel a little bit of the pain, fear, and isolation that they are feeling. One of those prisoners wrote to his family in Kuwait: "We have reached our limit. We are on a hunger strike. We have run out of patience. They should free us, sentence us, or kill us. We have no patience left for anything else." We must form commissions to keep track of their affairs from both a legal and a humanitarian perspective. We must be generous in our financial support. Whether we use our money to secure the release of some prisoners, or use it to defend their rights and publicize their plight, it is the same. We must also help their families on their behalf. All of this is spending in the way of Allah. It is in performing these acts of good that we as Muslims should strive to outdo each other. ' We must use the media continuously to keep their plight on the forefront of the people's minds. We must demonstrate our support against the incarceration of our people held in the "gulag of our times", "the most notorious prison in the word", "[a] byword for the epitome of Islamophobia". We must never stop. Never forget. Never let them be forgotten. "And indeed this religion of yours is one nation and I am your Lord so keep your duty to me." Al-Quran, The Believers [23:52]
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE BRITISH RESIDENTS 1. Join the National Demonstration Calling for Justice for British Residents in Guantanamo Bay - march via Downing Street to the US Embassy, London on Saturday 21st January - speakers include family members of Omar Deghayes, Shaker Aamer, Jamil El-Banna, Father of Babar Ahmed, Anas Al-Tikriti (Chair of Muslim Association of Great Britain), Craig Murray, Tony Benn - for more information go to www.save-omar.org.uk <http://www.save-omar.org.uk/>;
[Insert prisoner name and no.] Shaker Aamer 239 3. Write to your MP about the appalling conditions and manner in which these 9 residents are being held. Click here for letter template. Ask your MP to attend the Parliamentary Meeting called by Clare Short on the British Residents in Guantanamo Bay - Tuesday 17th January, 5pm, Room TBC 5. Follow the latest news and campaign updates on the British residents by visiting Cageprisoners.com {moscomment}    |
