Speak out to "Close Guantánamo" now!

"The continuing detention without fair trial of prisoners is unacceptable in terms of human rights. But it is also ineffective in terms of counter-terrorism,"
Margaret Beckett, UK Foreign Secretary October 13, 2006

On January 11, 2002, US authorities transferred the first “war on terror” detainees – hooded and shackled – to the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Five years later, over four hundred people of around 30 nationalities remain there in legal limbo.

Guantánamo Bay exists outside the law: torture and ill-treatment, indefinite detention, a presumption of guilt and the absence of fair trials. Detainees designated "enemy combatants" are not allowed even the basic right to challenge the lawfulness or conditions of their detention.

Governments as diverse as the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia have called for closure. United Nations experts and monitoring bodies have made it clear that the facility undermines fundamental human rights protections. Yet Canada remains silent on the conditions at Guantánamo Bay nor has it taken any significant action to protect the rights of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, the only minor (at the time of his detention) to be brought to trial before a military commission.

The US administration says it would like to close Guantanamo Bay if there was an alternative. Amnesty International believes the alternative is clear: Human rights for all. No exceptions.

TAKE ACTION

There are several things you can do to help close down Guantánamo. Follow the steps below to send email messages to the US President and/or the Canadian Prime Minister and tell others how they can get involved, too.

Click here to see a list of activists who have already participated in this email campaign.

Step One: Tell us who you are

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Step Two: Send a message to President George Bush (USA)

Dear President Bush:

Subject:

Message:
It is nearly five years since the first detainees were transferred to the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. More than 400 detainees remain there today in legal limbo. Genuine security can only be achieved through the protection of everyone's human rights. It's time to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and restore the rule of international human rights law. End indefinite detention. Stop torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Release any detainees who are not to be charged with criminal offences and brought to a fair trial that meets international standards. Ensure that no one is sent to a country where he will face further human rights violations.

Click here if you would like a copy of your message sent to His Excellency David H Wilkins, the US ambassador in Canada

1091 letters have been sent to George Bush

Step Three: Send a message to Prime Minister Harper (Canada)

Subject:

Message:
International opinion on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay is clear: it violates international law and undermines hard-won human rights protections, including the right to a fair trial and the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. United Nations experts, the UN Committee Against Torture, former US presidents, and other US allies have all called for closure. The first detainees were transferred to Guantanamo Bay almost five years ago. It's time to end the Canadian government's long silence. Speak up for human rights: call for the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to be shut down.

1030 letters have been sent to Stephen Harper

Step Four: Invite friends to speak up for human rights and help close Guantánamo

Thank-you for adding your voice to the growing public demand to shut down the Guantánamo detention centre.

Step Five: Keep this public demand growing

Publicize this appeal by ordering  and using “Close Guantánamo” posters and appeal postcards (both free) and t-shirts ($10.00).
 
Organize a “Close Guantánamo” publicity event in your school, community, workplace or faith community.

4 December 2006