Last British resident in Guantánamo writes of worsening conditions during hunger strike as lawyer seeks raising of case on G8 sidelines
The last British resident inside Guantánamo Bay has spoken of worsening conditions at the camp, as hopes for his release are pinned on David Cameron directly petitioning President Barack Obama this week.
Speaking last Monday, Shaker Aamer said that the camp's inmates on hunger strike now resembled "starving Biafrans" and detailed alleged mistreatment from guards and force-feeding practices that lead to vomiting and bleeding.
However, despite noting his own failing health and a desire to be taken off tube-feeding, Aamer, who has been in detention for more than a decade without being charged, expressed a belief that pressure from the UK government could lead to his release. "I am hopeful. I know things are going to happen. The British need to be encouraged that these coming days things are more important now than for the past 11 years. I very much hope to be home by July," Aamer said, according to a transcript given to the Observer by his lawyer.
His optimism comes amid growing pressure on Cameron to push for Aamer's release when he meets with President Obama on the sidelines of this week's G8 summit in Northern Ireland.
The UK government has repeatedly stated that it will lobby for Aamer's handover "at the highest level". Despite being cleared for release six years ago, he remains behind bars. In recent weeks both the foreign secretary, William Hague, and the defence secretary, Philip Hammond, have spoken to their United States counterparts over Aamer's case.
To date, it is thought that Cameron has not personally appealed to Obama, who last month restated his desire to shut down Guantánamo Bay. But on the eve of one-to-one meetings between the two leaders in Northern Ireland, it was hoped that the British prime minister would push the US leader for movement on Aamer.
In an editorial for the Guardian, the detainee noted that Cameron had received and read a recent letter from his daughter calling for the prime minister's support.
On Friday, Downing Street refused to comment on the details of what would be discussed during the one-to-ones taking place on the sidelines of the G8.
But Aamer's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, emphasised the importance of Cameron's intervention in a letter to the prime minister: "Recent media reports have raised the possibility that the US has not taken Britain's requests on this issue seriously – a direct appeal from our prime minister to the US president would surely put that beyond the shadow of a doubt."
He added that time was pressing, noting the effects that months of refusing food has had on his client, and other inmates.
Of the 166 detainees at Guantánamo, 104 are currently on hunger strike. Of those, 44 are being force-fed. In comments to his lawyer last week, Aamer said that more than a dozen inmates have dropped to weights of between 38 and 46kg (6 and 7st). "They look like staving Biafrans," he commented.
It comes despite repeated efforts by authorities to break the resolve of protesters. Detainees have seen their time allowed outside cells slashed, and been forced to undergo humiliating body cavity searches if they want to speak to lawyers, it has been claimed. Other alleged tactics include depriving prisoners of potable water and sleep.
"At night (the guards) keep everyone awake, laughing, slamming doors, talking. For eleven nights now, since the beginning of June, I have not slept," Aamer told his lawyer.
Aamer also drew attention to changes that had been made to the force-feeding programme: "They are using new, very cheap tubes – green and blue with a hard piece of metal in it. The type that was used before was soft, the new one is not flexible. Brothers start bleeding when it is inserted."
Despite expressing a belief that he could be released shortly, Aamer has said he will continue to refuse food and is pushing for the end of force-feeding – a practice at Guantanamo Bay which has been increasingly condemned by the wider medical community.
"I am OK with you, as my lawyer, asking the court to forbid this force-feeding. I understand full well that you do not want me to die. I do not want to die myself. But we do not know here at the prison how we can make the military listen to us, and treat us with basic human fairness," he told Stafford Smith.