Letters: Guantanamo ? a travesty of justice

The Guant�namo authorities say of the detained UK resident Shaker Aamer that he "refuses to participate in direct questioning, often citing imaginary or assumed mistreatment of himself" (The Guant�namo files, 25 April), but there's nothing imaginary about the years of solitary confinement he's endured during his nine years without charge or trial at the camp. There's nothing imaginary either about the fact that he's one of 172 Guant�namo detainees still being denied the opportunity to formally and fairly challenge accusations made in one-sided detainee "assessments". The leaked Guant�namo files only confirm what was widely suspected: that Guant�namo is a travesty of justice. The UK should step up appeals for Shaker Aamer to either receive a fair trial or be safely released to his family here in Britain.

Kate Allen

Director, Amnesty International UK

??Efforts made by the former Brown government in August 2007 to secure the release of Shaker Aamer predate this "latest" file by several months. The coalition's commendable efforts are similarly unaffected by the US intelligence assessment. In almost a decade of imprisonment without charge, none of the alleged factors that make Mr Aamer a "high-risk" prisoner have translated into anything prosecutable.

More essentially, there is nothing in the file that justifies Mr Aamer's detention without trial or charge for over nine years either from an American or British perspective. At the same time as seeking Mr Aamer's release in 2007, the British government sought and secured the release of four other British residents, including Omar Deghayes and Binyam Mohamed. It is quite incredible that, after almost a decade, the involvement of two alleged superpowers and no substantive evidence, Mr Aamer appears to be no closer to freedom.

Aisha Maniar

London Guant�namo Campaign

??Shaker Aamer's incarceration in Guant�namo for over nine years in the harshest of conditions has been shown to be based on false confessions obtained under torture and the unreliable testimony of a serial informer, Mohammed Basardah, who was released from Guant�namo in May 2010. Shaker should be released immediately so that his allegations of torture in the presence of M15 and the CIA can be examined by the Gibson inquiry set up by the prime minister.

Joy Hurcombe

Worthing, West Sussex

??If any of the inmates of Guant�namo and their friends, families and fellow citizens were not "radicalised" prior to their kidnap, incarceration and ill-treatment, they would have to be saints not to view the US with extreme hostility by now. Morality aside, I cannot think of any foreign policy undertaken by the US in the last few decades that was not counterproductive even when viewed through the narrow prism of US self-interest.

Andy Smith

Kingston upon Thames, Surrey

??Your coverage of the Guant�namo files provides a prima facie case of gross and wilful violation of human rights by the US. This, together with similar violations at Falluja, Abu Ghraib and Bagram, should prompt the international criminal court into immediate action, regardless of whether the US is a member of the ICC or not. These violations are an indelible scar on a nation which considers itself a bastion of freedom and which prides itself with a national motto "In God we trust".

M Riaz Hasan

Pinner, Middlesex

??It's now clear the US has a more lethal alternative to illegal rendition and imprisonment. The CIA now identifies, through "intelligence", individuals as al-Qaida, terrorist, insurgent et al, and assassinates them using drones (Senior al-Qaida militant killed in Nato air strike, 27 April). In the process, many innocent men, women and children are also killed. This is outside a battlefield situation and there is no legal process, so it can only be viewed as state terrorism.

Ron Kipps

Dartford, Kent

??The real story is that none of the documents about Guant�namo offer anything new. The facts were previously reported by journalists and in autobiographical accounts, indicating specific provisions violated in the Geneva conventions, within my book, George W Bush, War Criminal?

Michael Haas

Los Angeles, California

??On 2 May, between 8am and 2am, a member of the University of St Andrews Amnesty Society will sit in a cage outside the student union, wearing the attire of Guant�namo Bay inmates, to highlight what we believe is an unacceptable human rights violation. Despite his election promises, President Obama has not shut down Guant�namo, inmates are still not receiving fair civilian trials, and allegations of torture still exist. Specifically we wish to see the release of Shaker Aamer, who has been held since 2002 with no trial.

James Marshall

Campaigns co-ordinator, University of St Andrews Amnesty Society

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