Christian plea for last British Resident in Guantanamo Bay
Human rights campaigners in Wales are urging Foreign Secretary William Hague to make a fresh public plea for the return of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident detained in Guantanamo Bay
One of more than 100 detainees on hunger strike at the US base, Aamer has been held for more than eleven years - despite being cleared for release six years ago.
'What is happening to this man is a disgrace', said Baptist minister the Revd Roy Jenkins, chair of the Welsh churches' campaign Christians Against Torture. 'We have welcomed the government's insistence that it wants him back in this country, but are worried that any further delays might prove fatal.
'We are appalled and ashamed at the way Shaker Aamer continues to be treated. He has been repeatedly and extensively abused. He has spent long periods in solitary confinement, has lost a huge amount of weight, and is very weak. There are real fears that he might not survive this ordeal.
'He has never been charged with any offence, still less convicted, and we believe our government has an obligation to step up its demands for his return to this country to be reunited with his wife and children.'
Christians Against Torture supporters have been writing to their MPs and to the Foreign Secretary urging pressure on the US for his transfer. They joined more than 100,000 people across Britain in an e-petition which resulted in a recent parliamentary debate.
A previous Guantanamo campaign by the Welsh group focussed on Omar Deghayes, who was released shortly after a petition urging his return to Britain was presented at 10 Downing Street.
Christians Against Torture, launched in 1981 by the former Council of Churches for Wales, is an agency of Cytun, Churches Together in Wales.
It involves Christians of all traditions in working and praying for the abolition of torture and the care of its victims, of all faiths and none.