Luxembourg, Sweden, Obama needs EU!

Two countries down on our Obama needs EU! tour. We had a great welcome in Luxembourg where Moazzam’s presence appeared to calm even the more sceptical elements of the press.

All the political parties expressed interest in the issue of offering protection to the men in Guantanamo who cannot go home for fear of torture. We also met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, who expressed his respect for Moazzam by giving him a book about the history of a notorious prison in Luxembourg where the occupying Nazis had been responsible for torturing members of the Luxembourg resistance.

We believe that Ahmed Belbacha, who cannot return to his homeland of Algeria because he faces torture and illegal incarceration there, is a great example of someone who would thrive in a multinational society like Luxembourg. He speaks several languages, has lived in Europe before and is a trained accountant.

I have to admit I had some preconceptions about Sweden – our next destination – and some of them turned out to be true: I did hear Abba and it was bone-gnawingly cold [-10c on the day we left and thick snow on the ground]. But I was surprised by one thing: Sweden’s near silence in response to calls from human rights organisations to offer protection to some of the men in Guantanamo who need international protection.

We had hoped that Scandinavian countries, renowned as they as for their commitment to human rights, would lead the way in helping to close the notorious prison. The list of states which have accepted men who do have not previous ties to that country now looks like this: Albania, Belgium, Bermuda, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Palau, Portugal and Switzerland. Bulgaria and Spain have promised to take men too. But where are Scandinavian countries in this list?

France took one man, Lakhdar Boumediene, whilst it held the EU Presidency. Spain now heads the EU and has pledged to help. In July 2009, just after the EU-US Joint Statement on the closure of Guantanamo, Sweden took on the Presidency but seems to have taken few concrete steps towards meeting these aims by offering safe haven to any of the men who are so fearful of going back to their home countries that they would rather stay in the notorious prison.

Of course, we were also lucky in Stockholm to meet with many dedicated activists and young people at the public talk organised by Amnesty Sweden, who were moved by what Moazzam had been through and keen to know what they could do to end of suffering of men like him who are still in Guantanamo. We hope that Sweden will find the political will to do this.

I did learn one thing, though – Moazzam packs a mean snowball