Jamil el Banna

Jamil el Banna is a Jordanian with refugee status in Britain. He was kidnapped in Gambia in November 2002 and held in US custody until November 2007.

On 2 November 2002, Jamil el Banna set off with Bisher al-Rawi on a business trip to the Gambia. They were arrested and questioned for some days at Gatwick for carrying a ‘suspicious device’. Their lawyer, Gareth Peirce, went to the Argos catalogue store and bought an identical “weapon” – proving that it was a battery charger. Two MI5 agents then reassured Jamil and Bisher that they should proceed with their trip and not worry about travelling to the Gambia.

At Banjul airport in Gambia on 8 November 2002, they were arrested. The men were initially questioned by the Gambian National Intelligence Agency before being handed over to CIA agents. Far from being “on the battlefield”, they were further from Kabul than London is. According to the Gambian authorities, the arrest was made at the request of the British Government. Jamil reports how a U.S. interrogator said, “Why are you angry at America? It is your Government, Britain, the MI5, who called the CIA and told them that you and Bisher were in Gambia and to come and get you. Britain gave everything to us. Britain sold you out to the CIA.”

In late December, 2002 Mr el Banna was flown out of Gambia to Bagram, Afghanistan while habeus corpus proceedings were pending in the Gambian courts. He was treated very badly there - his head and beard were shaved, and he was forced to walk naked to and from the showers, past mocking American soliders and guards.

Three months later, in March 2003, Jamil el Banna's wife, who was heavily pregnant, was informed that her husband had been transferred to Guantánamo Bay. They have five children together, all of whom are British citizens. Inmates at the Cuban facility noticed how devoted Jamil was to his family and told of how he constantly worried about his children.

El-Banna was in constant pain from his joints because he suffered from rheumatism and he was diabetic. He told guards at Guantánamo repeatedly that he was diabetic but they did not believe him. Jamil lost 40 kilos in weight during his time at Guantánamo as he could not eat the meals given to him. . 

Jamil was released from Guantánamo to the UK on 19th December 2007. He was re-arrested under a Spanish extradition warrant, but bailed on 21st December 2007, and now has to wear an electronic tag. The actress Vanessa Redgrave stood surety for his £40,000 bail.