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Send the below letter on behalf of Mohamed el Gharani
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President George W. Bush
The White House
Office of the President
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am compelled to write to you today concerning the detainees held at Guant¡namo Bay. Your words repeatedly state, "We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law." However the detainees held in Guant¡namo Bay are being held in prolonged, indefinite detention under conditions which violates one of the USA's most fundamental rules of law; that of due process. Any one detained has the right to be promptly brought before an independent judicial authority to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.
In particular I want to bring the case of Mohamed el Gharani to your attention. He was detained in October 2001 at the age of 14 and has been held without due process ever since. He has suffered torture and ill treatment at the hands of our US military while at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan and again while in the custody of the US at Guant¡namo Bay. His body is apparently covered in scars caused by the torture and beatings, his teeth are said to be falling out because of neglect and his tongue is apparently cracked as a result of dehydration.
Mohamed el Gharani and hundreds of other people continue to be detained at the U.S. Naval Base in Guant¡namo Bay in conditions that reportedly amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. As a matter of fact the conditions at this base have heeded the call of the United Nations to close the facility down.
I strongly urge you to: 1) comply with the rule of law of due process for Mohamed el Gharani and all detainees at the U.S. Naval Base in Guant¡namo Bay, 2) ensure Mohamed el Gharani and all other detainees are given full and fair trials or be unconditionally released, 3) ensure no detainees will be transferred to any country where they may face further human rights violation, and 4) set up a full, independent, and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture and ill treatment of Mohamed el Gharari and all other detainees while held in US custody in Afghanistan and/or Guant¡namo Bay.
On June 26 2003 you stated, "The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example." I ask you to be true to your words.
Respectfully,
CC: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Office of Secretary of State, Department of State, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20520
The Honorable Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, 1000 Defense, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301
Attorney General Mukasey, US Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Navy Rear Adm. David M. Thomas, Commd Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Department of Defense, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, APO AE 09360
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