Media Release, 11 January 2005

Release of Guantanamo Prisoners

The Stop the War Coalition welcomes Foreign Secretary Jack Straw’s announcement today that the British prisoners in Guantanamo Bay will be released in weeks.

We note that Jack Straw made the same promise three years ago. Moazzam Begg, Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga and Richard Belmar have been held for years now, and the British government has been complicit in their illegal imprisonment.

We call for their immediate release and full compensation.

Even after their release there will be many hundreds of prisoners in Guantanamo being held under the worst possible conditions with no prospect of release. These prisoners must be either charged or released.

Illegal and indefinite detention without trial is part and parcel of Bush and Blair’s ‘war on terror’. This is a war that has cost the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians throughout the world.

On January 20th, the day of Bush’s inauguration, the Stop the War Coalition will be supporting a number of events protesting the continuation of the attacks on civil liberties and the continuing occupation of Iraq.

Contact information

For more information or comment, please call:
Stop the War Coalition Office
07951 593 525 or 020 7278 6694
National press officer 07939 242 229