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.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?