The Muslim Lawyers Association is pleased to announce that it will be hosting a country wide tour of a delegation from a UK based NGO, CagePrisoners between the 9th and 15th of December 2013. CagePrisoners is an independent advocacy group working to empower communities impacted by the “war on terror”. It has been recognised as a leading NGO in this field for over a decade. It is also the only organisation with former Guantanamo detainees and survivors of the ‘War on terror’ as board and staff members. CagePrisoners has been at the forefront of documenting violations of human rights abuses in the War on Terror and has published several cutting edge reports highlighting Western complicity in torture and rendition, secret prison sites and also draconian policies and legislation that have eroded civil liberties an d freedom.
The delegation will be touring Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and there will be public talks in the major cities as well as a seminar at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg on the 10th of December at 13:00.
Among those in the delegation is Moazzam Begg who is one of nine British citizens who were held at Camp X-Ray, Guantánamo Bay by the US government. He was released without charge but received no compensation or apology. He is the author of Enemy Combatant, the first book to be published by a former Guantánamo Bay prisoner. He is also f eatured in many award-winning documentary films including, Al-Jazeera’s Prisoner 345 and National Geographic’s Inside Guantanamo and Taxi to the Dark Side which received an academy award (Oscar) in 2008. He is also a published poet and his work appears in the highly acclaimed anthology, Poems from Guantanamo. In January 2009, he made an historic tour around the UK with former Guantanamo guard, Christopher Arendt, in the Two Sides, One Story tour. Moazzam was also closely involved in discussions with the foreign ministries of several European countries in order to seek the repatriation of prisoners from Guantanamo.
The delegation is available for interviews with the media and can be reached on the following mobile number during their stay: 2771 236 0079.
If you have any further enquiries or would like further information on the delegation’s itinerary please contact Shabnam Mayet at 27721786102 or e-mail: shabzym@gmail.com
NOTES:
- For more information on the organisation and its activities, please visit www.cageprisoners.com
- CagePrisoners investigations and casework has been covered by major news media – below are a selection:
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/27/world/europe/us-uk-somalia-renditions/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/07/2013721122642771818.html
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