Former detainee to tell meeting Ireland can do more to close Guantánamo

dublin | rights and freedoms | event notice Wednesday February 03, 2010 11:32 by Amnesty Comms - Amnesty International Ireland info at amnesty dot ie

A former Guantánamo detainee, joined by human rights lawyers as part of a tour of European cities, will call on Ireland to put pressure on EU member states to accept former prisoners for resettlement.

Moazzam Begg

Amnesty International Ireland is hosting a public meeting next week where former Guantánamo detainee Moazzam Begg will call on the Irish Government to put pressure on EU member states to follow the Irish example and accept other former detainees for resettlement.
He is joined by lawyers from Reprieve and the US Center for Constitutional Rights. The event is part of a tour across Europe urging more states to offer the men a safe haven.

The meeting will take place in the Irish Aid Centre on O'Connell Street at 7pm on Monday, 8 February.

“By accepting two former detainees last year Ireland made a substantial, practical, contribution to shutting down Guantánamo for good,” said Amnesty International Ireland’s Colm O’Gorman. “We’re now hoping the Government will go that bit further and become a vocal, visible advocate for other EU countries to do the same.”

Approximately 50 of the just under 200 detainees currently held in Guantánamo cannot be sent back to their countries of origin because they would face a real risk of human rights violations such as torture or other ill-treatment. They come from countries including China, Libya, Russia, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.

Despite a joint EU-US statement in June 2009 expressing the willingness of certain EU states to take former detainees only a small number have joined Ireland in doing so.