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Held for 600 Days Since Being Approved for Release from Guantánamo: Khaled Qassim, a Talented Artist

13.3.24

The seventh article in my ongoing series of ten articles about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. The articles are published alternately here and on the Close Guantánamo website, and this particular article highlights the case of Khaled Qassim, a Yemeni, and a talented artist, whose ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial was upheld for many years because of his “non-compliance” — his resistance to the injustice and brutality of Guantánamo, including through persistent hunger strikes — far more than anything he was alleged to have done before he was seized and taken to Guantánamo in the first place.

Please Support My Truly Independent Reader-Funded Work on Guantánamo as a Journalist and Activist

11.3.24

My latest quarterly fundraiser, in which I ask you, if you can, to make a donation to support my ongoing work on Guantánamo, over the next three months, as a reader-funded independent journalist and activist. My aim, every three months, is to raise $2500 (£2000) to enable me to continue my work, now in its 19th year.

Photos and Report: Global Vigils for Guantánamo’s Closure on March 6 Demand Freedom for 16 Men Long Approved for Release

9.3.24

Photos from, and my report about the eight vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and around the world on March 6, 2024, the latest in an ongoing series of monthly coordinated global vigils that began last year. The vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and the next date is April 3.

On Gorilla Radio, Chris Cook Plays ‘Warriors’, and We Discuss Julian Assange, Guantánamo, Genocide in Gaza and George Galloway

8.3.24

Linking to, and discussing my recent interview with Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio, in which we discussed Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, the significance of the recent by-election victory in the UK of George Galloway, the continuing plight of the 16 men still held at Guantánamo who have long been approved for release, the global vigils for the prison’s closure, and the continuing plight of Julian Assange, who is still fighting in the British courts to prevent his extradition to the US to face outrageous and unjustifiable espionage charges relating to WikiLeaks’ publication, in 2010-11, of classified US files leaked by Chelsea Manning. Chris also played ‘Warriors’, my recently released song about Julian and Chelsea, recorded with The Four Fathers.

Held for 800 Days Since Being Approved for Release from Guantánamo: Moath Al-Alwi, Zakaria Al-Baidany and Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu

6.3.24

The fifth article in my ongoing series about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. The articles are published alternately here and on the Close Guantánamo website, and this particular article highlights three men approved for release in December 2021 — the talented artist Moath al-Alwi, and two victims of extraordinary rendition and torture: Zakaria al-Baidany and Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu.

Held for 5,150 Days Since Being Approved for Release from Guantánamo: Toffiq Al-Bihani and Two “Ghosts,” Ridah Al-Yazidi and Muieen Abd Al-Sattar

28.2.24

The third article in my ongoing series about the 16 men approved for release from Guantánamo, noting how long they have been held since those decisions were taken, telling their stories, and tying publication of these articles into significant dates in their long ordeal. This particular article highlights the three especially unfortunate men who were approved for release over 14 years ago.

At Guantánamo, Accomplices in the 2002 Bali Bombings Reach A Plea Deal, May Be Released By 2029

25.2.24

My report about last month’s military commission hearings at Guantánamo, at which the prison’s only Malaysian prisoners, Mohammed Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, accepted a plea deal, admitting that they were involved as accomplices in the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002, as members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiya, and agreeing to provide information in the forthcoming trial of the group’s alleged leader, Hambali (Riduan Isamuddin), in exchange for a reduced sentence. As I explain, the two men are largely unknown to the general public, even though they are “high-value detainees” who were held and tortured in CIA “black sites” for three years, from 2003 to 2006, and have been held at Guantánamo for over 17 years.

The Four Fathers Release New Song, ‘Warriors’, About Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, To Coincide With Julian’s Last UK Appeal Against Extradition to the US

21.2.24

Linking to, and discussing the significance of ‘Warriors’, the new release by The Four Fathers, which I wrote about Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, and which was released to coincide with Julian’s last UK appeal against his proposed — and grotesquely unfair — extradition to the US to face espionage charges relating to the files that he published, with some of the world’s most significant newspapers, which had been leaked by Chelsea Manning, including the Guantánamo files, on which I worked a media partner.

The Horror of Israel’s Bragging, Self-Righteous, Live-Streamed Genocide in Gaza That Also Seeks to Eliminate Fundamental Human Decency

18.2.24

My latest long read about Israel’s still-ongoing genocide in Gaza, the unimaginable horror of being in Gaza itself, and the permanently unsettling psychic repercussions reverberating around the world, plus a comprehensive overview of how and why it is a genocide, and my shock that so many people are so openly and publicly supportive of what ought to be readily recognized as “the most abysmal darkness, the most startling failure of the human spirit, and the very definition of collective evil”, as I describe it. I also express my disgust at western complicity in the genocide, discuss the huge importance of not allowing Hamas’ attacks on October 7 to be perceived as having taken place in a vacuum, and conclude with the hope that, as Israel prepares to attack the last refuge of Gaza’s displaced population in Rafah, and to push for the permanent expulsion of all the survivors, western indulgence of Israel — especially with complicity in genocide hovering over them via the International Court of Justice — will finally cease and, somehow, bring this otherwise unending slaughter to an end.

An Exhibition of Guantánamo Prisoners’ Artwork at Humboldt University of Berlin

14.2.24

My report about “über Guantánamo hinaus”, the first exhibition of Guantánamo prisoners’ original artwork outside the US, currently taking place at Humboldt University of Berlin, and featuring artwork by one prisoner still held, Moath al-Alwi, and three former prisoners, Sabri al-Qurashi, Mohammed al-Ansi and Ghalib al-Bihani.

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Andy Worthington

Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers).
Email Andy Worthington

CD: Love and War

The Four Fathers on Bandcamp

The Guantánamo Files book cover

The Guantánamo Files

The Battle of the Beanfield book cover

The Battle of the Beanfield

Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion book cover

Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion

Outside The Law DVD cover

Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo

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