Starting out
A picture and some information are provided for reflection on this first cell-space as you enter the house.
The picture is of prison cells.
The story is a report about Guantanamo Bay detention centre which President Obama ordered to be closed after many complaints about its detainees being held without trial, being tortured, and without regard to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners. The story is about a British detainee.
Bishop Brian
Shaker Aamer's story
Shaker Aamer is a British citizen and detainee who has been held in Guantanamo Bay . He claims that he and Moazzam Begg (who was released from Guantanamo) went to Afghanistan in 2001 to build a school as an act of religious charity. They left as the invasion took place but were handed over to the US forces in 2002 and sent to Guantanamo. Shaker Aamer has alleged that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, but has been placed in solitary confinement and abused by his gaolers by being left naked under an air conditioning unit. He has since been cleared for release, but in 2012 was still in Guantanamo.
You can read more about Shaker Aamer's case on the Reprieve website.
Some questions:
- What words come to mind when you look at the picture?
- How do you feel about Shaker Aamer's claims?
- How do you think the British Government should act in cases like this one?
- What might you want to ask Shaker Aamer if you met him?
- What might you want to ask the US defence department?
- How does being a Christian affect what you feel about the story and the picture?
You can read more about Shaker Aamer's case at www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/shakeraamer
The guards here might not like you reading about Shaker Aamer and they might not like anything you write in your notebook, journal or blog. Will you want to discuss his story?
You can move on to a new cell-space, but you must imagine that you can only leave with permission and that you are escorted by a guard to the new cell-space. If you are in a group you can make this feel more realistic by getting your neighbour to pick where you go next, so that you don't get to choose where you go or who your fellow 'cell-mates' are.