Blair should not call for Guantánamo's closure.

[Taxloss]

Doing so is hypocritical. First, he should fix Britain and the USA's dirty little secret: Ascension Island and Diego Garcia.

For the uninitiated Ascension Island is a rock in the Atlantic, and Diego Garcia is an atoll in the Indian Ocean. They are both British colonies.

Or not. Diego Garcia is leased to the US military as an airbase, a shameful deal that evicted thousands of Garcians to the Maldives, withdrawing their British nationality.

Ascension Island also hosts a large US military facility. Unlike DG, the Ascension Islanders have not been evicted. Mostly. Yet. We're working on it.

Oh, one last thing - these islands are part of the United States' Gulag Archipelago. They make cosy stopovers for "enemy combatants" on their way to ... who knows? A sound-proofed basement with wipe-clean walls and floor in some charming country that's a "friend of freedom". These isolated specks do not get the press coverage of Guantánamo. In fact, they make Guantánamo look like an inspiring example of open government.

Still, that's rendertainment.

[tatertop]

1. I didn't know about that. Now I know.

[Trevelyan]

2. Please write to some of these prisoners. Diego Garcia is one of the UK

torture prison sites that has listings of prisoners you can write to on http://www.CagePrisoner.com/

Write To The Forgotten Detainees
It takes little imagination to visualise life in a prison. The confined cell, the bare walls, the silence, and most of all, the feeling of isolation. Many have no family members in the UK and as a result they have become despondent and desperate. In one case, a detainee was actually seeking permission from a scholar to commit suicide until he began to receive letters from the public, which renewed his desire and motivation to live.

It is not enough that we feel sorry for what they are going through. It is not enough that we shed a few tears when we sit and think about what they are experiencing. Nor is it enough that we lay back and wait for others to take on the responsibility of reaching out to them.

We must not fail them at this critical time. We must hasten to comfort them, and support them at a time when they need us most. We must write letters that give them hope, help strengthen them and motivate them to persevere in remaining patient. We must be their link to the outside world, a link that shows that they have not been forgotten.

Such letter-writing campaigns have proved to be hugely successful – with the 8 Belmarsh detainees receiving 60 letters each in the week that the campaign was first launched and with Babar Ahmad receiving over 50 letters in his first week in prison.

Therefore we urge you all to make it a regular practice to write to at least one prisoner a week and to encourage all your family members and friends to do the same.

The letters can be as short as a paragraph, preferably written in your own handwriting as it is more personal, or if you do not have time to write a letter, you can buy a set of 'Thinking of You' cards. The content of the letters should be encouraging them to be patient, reminding them to have hope and that they have not been forgotten. This should not take more than half an hour and should not cost you more than £3. However, it may give hope to a prisoner for whom half an hour is like half a year.

Simple messages of goodwill are enough. Never advance your political opinion or discuss politics at all.

Clearly state the prisoner number otherwise the card will not reach the intended recipient. In some cases, the names of prisoners are withheld for legal reasons.

For more information on why you should write and for ideas on what to write, click here.

If you have included your name and address (preferably a stamped addressed envelope) it is probable that the prisoners will write back to you and you can find out exactly what their situation is like inside. If you still prefer not to leave your name and address, then please write to them anyway.

Please ensure that the prisoner addresses are written exactly as they appear below.

PRISONER ADDRESSES UK

Detainee Z
c/o Chantel Fenton
Birnberg Peirce & Partners
14 Inverness Street
London
NW1 7HJ

HMP BELMARSH

(Note: the detainees cannot receive books, tapes, clothes etc; money can help prisoners buying extra food and other items but should be sent via special delivery)

Saajid Badat JG9199
HMP Belmarsh
Western Way
Thamesmead
London SE28 OEB

Dhiren Barot NB5353
HMP Belmarsh
Western Way
Thamesmead
London SE28 0EB

Mohammad Bhatti MX5483
HMP Belmarsh
Western Way
Thamesmead
London SE28 0EB

Hedi Boudhiba LL4587 (letters should be in French or Arabic only)
HMP Belmarsh
Western Way
Thamesmead
London
SE28 OEB


GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

Prisoner name (see prisoner gallery profiles)
Camp Delta
P.O. Box 160
Washington DC 20053 USA

NOTE: Individuals should note that while we have had it confirmed from one of the US lawyers who has visited Guantanamo, that the US government do allow mail from non-family members, all mail is subject to extreme delays as well as censors. There is a strong possibility that the JTF in Guantanamo will withhold letters for up to a year or longer, or that the detainees may never receive your letter. Only one released detainee we spoke to has received mail from non-relatives, in spite of many having been sent. The US is believed to be clamping down on mail particularly, of late. However, letter-writing can be considered a protest action, as it sends a strong message to the US administration that the world has not forgotten the prisoners in Guantanamo, but rather is immensely concerned about what is occuring in Cuba.

FAMILIES

- Family of Ahcene Zemiri (Algerian, Guantanamo)
- Family of Ali Qaffan (Yemeni, Guantanamo)
- Family of Bisher Al Rawi (British resident, Guantanamo)
- Families of the Bosnian detainees in Guantanamo: Al Akhdar Boumediene, Bin Siyah BilQasim, Hajj Boudella, Mohammad Nechla, Mustafa Ait Idir, Sabir Lahmar
- Family of Khalid ibn Mustafa (Released from Guantanamo, in French custody)
- Families of the Kuwaiti 11 (Guantanamo)
- Family of Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba (British resident, Guantanamo)
- Family of Jamil El Banna (British resident, Guantanamo)
- Family of Mobeen Muneef (Briton detained in Abu Ghraib)
- Family of Monear Eldrissy (Briton detained in Azerbaijan)
- Family of Omar Degahes (British resident, Guantanamo)
- Family of Omar Khadr (Canadian, Guantanamo)
- Family of Said Arif (Algerian detained in France)
- Family of Shaker Aamer (British resident, Guantanamo)
- Families of Seifullah Chapman, Masud Khan, Hamad Abdurraheem, Ahmad Abu Ali (Virginia, US)

[Taxloss]

3. Kick n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Link doesn't work

instead, it takes you to a site advertising related searches, such as, um, "male chastity devices", "cages", "fetish handcuffs", etc.

Do they really list prisoners at Diego Garcia? I thought it had never been known who was held there, because the Red Cross, United Nations, and in fact everyone apart from the American and British military are banned. They claim they don't hold prisoners there, but no-one can check.