Reprieve calls on Prime Minister Berlusconi to bring home Italian residents locked in Guantanamo Bay
17.06.08
Today, British legal charity Reprieve is releasing six stories to the Italian public—tales of men who once had homes, lives, and loved ones in Italy, but who have now been held for over six years without charge or trial in Guantánamo Bay.
Reprieve’s latest report, The Forgotten Italian Residents in Guantánamo Bay, outlines the plight of the Italian prisoners suffering in Guantánamo today. It reveals the complicity of the Italian government in Guantánamo, and calls on Prime Minister Berlusconi to help President Bush close the prison by bringing his own residents home.
The six Italian prisoners profiled were legal residents of Italy. All but one have been found not to be a threat by the US authorities and are cleared for release.
Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve, said:
“Danté would have been impressed by the hell these men went through in Guantánamo. And while Prime Minister Berlusconi has said that Guantánamo should be closed, these Italians were rendered to Guantánamo over Italian skies and interrogated there by Italian agents. They were beaten, abused, treated like animals, but never brought before a court of law. Prime Minister Berlusconi should correct this injustice and bring the residents home.”
Cori Crider, Reprieve Staff Attorney, said:
“All of these men called Italy their home. For instance, Adel al Hakeemy worked legally as a chef’s assistant in Bologna for years. He still reminisces about sharing spaghetti ai frutti di mare with Italian friends—especially since, in his professional opinion, the mush that passes for food in Gitmo “has never seen a spice.” Italian interrogators told Adel he would be coming home to Italy. The US military has said he is no threat and can be released. Yet he is still in isolation, sick with worry over his mother and the daughter he has never seen.”
Cori Crider, Reprieve Staff Attorney, stated: “One Italian resident, Lotfi Lagha, was already shipped to Tunisia, abused, and dragged before a show trial. The rest of the men can expect the same if the Italian government fails to intervene. It is not too late to save Hisham, Adel, and the rest of these Italian prisoners from an even grimmer fate.”
The six Italian residents profiled in the report are:
Hisham Sliti
Adel al Hakeemy
Hedi Hamamy
Lotfi bin Ali
Saleh Sassi
Adel bin Mabrouk
In addition, the report mentions Lotfi Lagha, the Italian resident sent from Guantánamo to abuse in Tunisia in June 2007.
The Forgotten Italian Residents in Guantánamo Bay is now available on the Reprieve website in two languages:
English version
Versione Italiana
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For further information, please contact Cori Crider, Staff Attorney, on 020 7247 1095 or Andy Worthington at Reprieve’s Press Office on 020 7427 1099.
Emails – Cori: cori@reprieve.org.uk, Andy:andy@reprieve.org.uk.
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