A St Andrews University student will spend 18 hours locked up in a cage to protest against holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
A member of St Andrews University’s Amnesty Society will be caged from 8am on Monday dressed in a uniform like those issued to captives in the infamous US prison in Cuba. Two “security personnel” will flank his confine outside the student union.
James Marshall, the society’s campaigns co-ordinator, said the action was to demonstrate against what members believe is an unacceptable violation of human rights.
He said, “We aim to highlight that, despite his election promises, President Obama has not shut Guantanamo, inmates still do not receive fair civilian trials and allegations of torture still exist.
“We wish to see the release of Shaker Aamer, a British resident held since 2002 with no trial.”
Aamer, the last UK resident at Guantanamo Bay, has spent nine years incarcerated without charge. He was cleared for release in 2007 but remains in detention and campaigners fear for his mental health.
A Saudi national, he lived in the UK with his British wife and family. He claims to have been working for a charity in Afghanistan in 2001 when he was captured, suspected of fighting for al-Qaeda.
However, files published by WikiLeaks state Aamer was a “close associate” of Osama Bin Laden and a “reported recruiter, financier and facilitator” for al-Qaeda.
Foreign Secretary William Hague is to press for Aamer’s release when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits the UK with President Obama.
Photo by Flickr user jamesomalley.