PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
GUANTANAMO BAY (25 November 2010)

That this House notes with regret that President Obama's pledge to close the US Military Detention Centre at Guantnamo Bay by January 2010 is almost one year overdue and little closer to realisation; welcomes gestures by other European States to accommodate and receive innocent prisoners who have been cleared for release to help close the facility; notes with dismay that on 11 January 2011 the detention facility will have been open for nine years and that British resident Shaker Aamer has now been held there without charge or trial for almost the same length of time; urges the Government to step up its action to secure his release without further delay; and further notes the case of Ahmed Belbacha, previously resident in the UK and facing the imminent threat of forced return to his native Algeria where there are fears he will face abuse of his human rights; applauds the lead taken by countries such as Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and Bulgaria, who have accepted prisoners cleared for release from Guantnamo Bay by the US authorities on humanitarian grounds but who cannot return to their country of origin; and urges the Government to take similar measures to accept a number of such cleared prisoners.

Sponsored by:
Caroline Lucas (Green Party)