Guantanamo Bay

I am utterly opposed to the illegal detetion of all those incarcerated by the United States at Guanatanamo Bay.

December 2004

I am in regular correspondence had on this issue with Baroness Symons, Minister of State, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and subsequent to this exchange of letters, on Tuesday 30th November, I was part of a deputation of Birmingham MPs who, together with Moazzam Begg’s father, Azmat Begg, and his solicitor Gareth Pierce, met the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw.  Moazzam Begg, from Sparkhill, Birmingham, was arrested in Pakistan and has been held in isolation at the military base since January 2002.  We pressed the Foreign Secretary to make further representations to the US Government and to ask the Prime Minister to make further representations to President Bush in support of Moazzam Begg and other British citizens and residents detained at Guantanamo Bay.  I am continuing to liaise with Roger Godsiff, to offer any support I can to his efforts, as he is Moazzam Begg’s MP. 

I am also a signatory of an Amicus Brief on Guantanamo Military Commissions.  This brief was filed by Freshfields international law firm on behalf of 271 UK and European parliamentarians with the US District Court for the District of Columbia in October 2004, in support of the petition brought by Lt Cmdr Charles Swift on behalf of his client Guantanamo detainee Salim Hamdan (Hamdan vs Rumsfeld).  I am continuing to liaise with Freshfields in support of their legal representation.