On Father’s Day Weekend, Reprieve Joins Calls From The Children Of Cleared British Guantanamo Prisoner Jamil El Banna to Allow Their Father Home
15.06.07
Today Reprieve joins Anas and Mohammed El Banna, the ten and nine year old sons of cleared Guantánamo prisoner and British resident Jamil El Banna, in calling for their father to be allowed home. This morning, the two boys delivered a letter to 11 Downing Street with Reprieve Senior Counsel Zachary Katznelson and MP Sarah Teather, asking Mr. Brown to let their father return to the UK.
Held for four and a half years in Guantánamo Bay without charge or trial, Jamil has now been cleared for release by the Americans. To date, the Home Secretary has refused to allow Jamil back to the UK, alleging that because he has been out of the country for over two years, his leave to remain has lapsed. As a result, Jamil faces being sent to Jordan where he risks further detention and torture.
Zachary Katznelson stated: “As Prime Minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown faces a very simple question: will he answer the pleas of two young children to be reunited with their father, pleas Tony Blair has ignored? Jamil left the UK on a business trip in November 2002, was grabbed by the CIA in The Gambia and has languished in Guantánamo Bay ever since. Now that the Americans have cleared Jamil the British Government alone stands in the way of his return home. There is no excuse for this shameful position. This Father’s Day is Gordon Brown’s opportunity to reunite a family who has suffered enough.”
Jamil El Banna is the father of five children under eleven – three boys and two girls – all of whom are British citizens. The family lives in London. Jamil was granted refugee status here in 1997 and indefinite leave to remain in 2000. His application for citizenship was pending when he was seized in the Gambia getting off a plane from the UK in November 2002.
Supporting his family’s calls to be reunited, Jamil’s British solicitors Birnberg Peirce have this week brought a legal challenge in the High Court to the British government’s refusal thus far to let Jamil back into the UK. A hearing will be held on June 28.
Reprieve lawyers Zachary Katznelson and Clive Stafford Smith represent Jamil El Banna before the United States courts. Mr. Katznelson last saw Mr. El Banna in Guantánamo Bay in early May 2007.
ENDS
WRITTEN AND AUDIO TRANSCRIPTS OF ANAS EL BANNA’S LETTER ARE AVAILABLE.
For interviews, or a copy of the letter, please contact the Reprieve Press office on: 020 7131 3609 / 07838 383149 /07766017985 /
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