Gitmo Hunger-Striker Starts Twitter Campaign to Close Prison
Has been in detention for 11 years
Petitions have failed. Lawsuits have failed. Even campaign pledges from future presidents have failed. So now one Guantanamo Bay detainee is hoping that Twitter can help him shut down the infamous detention facility.
Shaker Aamer, a Saudi citizen and former British resident, is one of 103 Guantanamo detainees currently on a hunger strike in protest of his seemingly endless incarceration without trial. Eleven years into his confinement, Aamer's interactions with the outside world are limited. But through his lawyers, Aamer is testing the ability of social media to pressure President Obama into finally closing Guantanamo.
Clive Stafford Smith, who runs the UK human-rights legal firm Reprieve, tweeted this morning that "Shaker Aamer would like everyone" to call the U.S. embassy in London "to demand action on Guantanamo Bay." He's got 80 retweets as of this writing.
