5 British men were released from Guantanamo Bay this week and flown back to the UK. They arrived at a military airbase in London where 4 of them were immediately arrested, while the 5th was questioned and then released.

Yesterday another was released with no charges being brought. Today the 3 remaining men were released, due to lack of any evidence to hold them.

The first man released was Jamal Udeen. He had been backpacking in Pakistan when he was captured by tribesmen and handed over to the Taleban, suspected of being a British spy. He was held by the Taleban until they fell. Without his passport or any other documents he was forced to stay where he was. When the US first captured the jail he was held in, he was lead to believe he was going to be released, but when the jail was taken over by US military police he was soon shipped to Bagram, then held in Guantanamo for 2 years.

The 2nd man released had been living in Afghanistan with his family under the Taleban. He had moved there because he wanted to live in a more religious environment. When the coalition invaded he fled with his family to Islamabad in Pakistan. A couple of months later he was arrested by Pakistani Military police, interrogated by them and US agents, then again, shipped to Bagram and on to Guantanamo for 2 years.

The details of the other 3 men released have not been publicised.

So, despite being held for 2 years, interrogated by US agents and British agents, they have found no evidence on which to hold them.

How many other people are currently being held in Guantanamo for no reason?

I know the belgian governement is currently negotiating with the US over the release of several belgians in Guantanamo. I don't know how they ended up there and why though...

» david, the Lost Boy
» the Written Pixel: http://writtenpixel.com/

The only Spanish citizen that we are aware of was also released recently, although it is assumed he will require around three months of hospital care before he can be judged. In his case, he did join an armed group in Afghanistan to fight for Islam, although it is not clear if there were any links with Al Qaeda. That may explain why he was so damaged that he went straight into Intensive Care.

José

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How many other people are currently being held in Guantanamo for no reason?

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We will never know, and that's - I hate to say -an even more significant problem than the illegal detentions themselves.

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even more disturbing - how many G-Bay prisoners have been shipped to some torture-friendly client state like Egypt or Saudi Arabia.
I have a lot of respect for both America and Americans, but this thing sickens me on so many levels - not least, its just bad strategy. How can you win hearts and minds, and wave the banner for democracy, when you are running a gulag system that would make Kafka blush.

they have the internet on computers now?

two australians that we know of : with very little support from our govt.

they're still there. one has been able to meet with his australian lawyer. the lawyer had to sign a confidentiality thingo to even get in to see his client, so he couldn't give much info out when he left the meeting.

Note the absurdity of the Oz government's position: They don't want David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib returned to Australia because they had done nothing wrong under Australian law (even if they had done what they are accused of) and we don't want to make the new "anti-terror" legislation retrospective because that's wrong - so instead, we'll leave the two to the tender mercies of what even Hicks' military-appointed lawyer calls a show trial. That's much more credible, eh?

Hicks was picked up in Afghanistan allegedly training with Al Qaeda / the Taliban. He's a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army - "terrorist": it's such a question of timing, isn't it? Mamdouh Habib was picked up in Pakistan for reasons unclear. Nobody has been told what either is to be charged with, although our government likes to hint that, well, they know stuff they just can't share which makes it a dead cert they're both guilty. Of something or other.

My vote for Man of the Year (so far) goes to Major Michael Mori, David Hicks' US military-appointed defence lawyer.

Here you have a serving member of the US military who has been assigned the task of defending a Guantanamo inmate (as yet not charged with any crime). He has demonstrated considerable integrity in undertaking this duty to date, and has been courageous enough to openly criticise the skewed regime under which any trial will be held, even though this could conceivably jeopardise his future career.

Remarkable.