The forgotten detainees of
Belmarsh
Guantanamo UK
"We were arrested in December 2001 and taken straight to Belmarsh
prison. We know that the police in this country have enormous powers
to investigate suspected terrorists. Why did no one ever speak to
us? Why were we never asked a single question before being locked up
as terrorists? We have never had a trial. We were found guilty
without one. We are imprisoned indefinitely and probably forever. We
have no idea why. We have not been told what the evidence is against
us. We are here. Speak to us. Listen to us. Tell us what you think
and why. If you did, you would no longer believe we were a threat to
this country. You would think perhaps that there was not the
emergency you have imagined here. Everyone is giving their opinion
about us. Why not think of coming to us first, rather than locking
us up and never speaking to us?
The Forgotten Detainees
Belmarsh Prison
In our deep concern for our brothers held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
we should not turn a blind eye to the fact that a similar travesty
of justice, and an equal violation of human rights occurs elsewhere,
albeit with far less media attention – this time in our backyard, on
British soil.
We would like to draw attention to the plight of the Forgotten
Detainees who have been incarcerated in Woodhill and Belmarsh high
security prison, held in isolation in small cells for 22 hours a
day, without charge or trial for over two years. A recent appeal
against their detention was rejected. A court order stopping these
men from being named, leaves them dehumanised and they are referred
to as “suspected terrorists”. One of them, who suffers from polio,
is now mentally unstable, suffering from severe weight loss (now 7
stone) and confined to a wheelchair. Another has no arms and has
only recently been given the help of a part time carer.
Unsurprisingly, they are all severely depressed. They are detained
indefinitely, are charged with no crime, have no opportunity to get
a fair trial and, in addition, worry about their families – many
with young children – coping on their own in an alienated world.
A letter written recently by Mustafa, one of the 14 detainees, says,
"I feel, and my brothers as well, that not all British people are
without hearts although the government is trying to make it look
like everyone is against us. I am trying to be optimistic - life in
this place is very hard but your friendship is a light in the
darkness of the injustice we are in".
Remember the words of Allah (SWT): “Verily, the believers
are but a brotherhood" (Suratul-Hujuraat, 10)
“Help one another in acts of piety and righteousness." (Suratul-Maa’idah,
2)
Furthermore, The Prophet (SAW) said, “"Help your brother,
whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed" (al-Bukhari)
On the authority of Abu Hurairah who said the Messenger of Allaah
(SAW) said, "...Do not turn one's back on each other... And
be, O servants of Allaah, brethren. A Muslim is the brother of a
Muslim. He does not wrong him. He does not fail him (when he needs
him).” (Muslim)
"No man forsakes a Muslim when his rights are being violated
or his honour is being belittled except that Allaah will forsake him
at a place in which he would love to have His help. And no man helps
a Muslim at a time when his honour is being belittled or his rights
violated except that Allaah will help him at a place in which he
loves to have His help." (Abu Dawood, Ahmad, hasan, Saheeh
al-Jaami)
"Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of the distressful
aspects of this world, Allaah will rescue him from a difficulty of
the difficulties of the hereafter… Allah is helping the servant as
long as the servant is helping his brother." (Muslim)
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother
what he loves for himself.” (al-Bukhari and Muslim)
“You will find the believers, with respect to their mutual
mercy, love and compassion for one another, like one body: if one
portion of the body is ailing, the rest of the body suffers from
sleeplessness and fever." (al-Bukhari and Muslim)
2. Striving for the Release of the Muslim Captives is an
Obligatory Duty on the Ummah
The Prophet (SAW) said: “Free the prisoner”.
Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said:
"Freeing the prisoners is one of the greatest compulsory deeds and
spending ransom money and other means towards that, is one of the
greatest ways to come close to Allah." (Sheikh al-Islam ibn
Taymiyyah, Fatawaa 28/635)
Ways in which you can help:
1. Be informed and keep others well-informed about the plight of our
brothers buried alive in concrete coffins by reading the news and
articles on our site, and disseminating this news amongst all those
whom you know. Distribute these articles, in your gatherings,
universities, schools, colleges, Muslim businesses, mosques and
study circles. Submit this information to newspapers, magazines, and
websites. Keep their plight alive in your conversations and dealings
with both Muslims and non-Muslims. Merely raising awareness on the
human rights of prisoners held in concrete coffins does not
'blacklist' a person, nor cause a house raid and search by the
authorities!
2. Prisoners of the West Organisation have set up a post office box
number to allow people to write to these men.
Please write to the brothers with a short message of support as we
can assure you that it will lift their spirits knowing that people
care about the injustices heaped upon them by David Blunkett and the
British Government. The more letters they receive the better.
A complete list of the prisoners and their addresses are available
here.
3. LutonMuslims.com urges you to write letters and to send emails
and faxes to your local MPs. You can obtain their contact details by
using
Ask Aristotle and
faxyourmp.com. For site-visitors from the UK, send emails and
letters to the British Home Secretary, David Blunkett and to the
British government.
British Home Secretary, David Blunkett
House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 4043
House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 5903
Constituency Phone number: 0114 273 5987
Constituency Fax number: 0114 278 0384
British Prime Minister, Tony Blair
10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA
You can also email the Labour MP, John Austin, for the constituency
under which Belmarsh Prison falls. This can be done online by going
to faxyourmp.com and
entering the postcode for Belmarsh Prison, SE28 0EB. There is
nothing wrong with entering your name, address and email.
Be polite, brief and to the point. Post any copies of replies you
receive, on Letter section of the Cage Prisoners Discussion Forum.
Be sure to include the header section of the reply (i.e. date, from
and to email addresses etc.), or a scanned image of the letter, to
validate its authenticity.
Make the same complaints to HM Prison Service Headquarters on
071-217 3000 and HM Belmarsh directly:
Switchboard : 020 8331 4400 (Option 2 for the operator)
Other Telephone : 020 8331 2436 / 020 8331 4768
Fax : 020 8331 4401 (Mark fax, “for the attention of the Governor”)
4. For those of you outside the UK, write to your local British
embassy, demanding an explanation for the imprisonment of these men,
in conditions the Home Office medical experts believe to be
barbaric, without access to their families, without charge or trial,
leading to a severe deterioration of their mental health, in what
the lawyers described as "concrete coffins".
You can obtain contact details for British embassies worldwide from
the following site:
http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/uk1.htm
Be polite, brief and to the point. Post any copies of replies you
receive, on Letters section of the Cage Prisoners Discussion Forum.
Be sure to include the header section of the reply (i.e. date, from
and to email addresses etc.), or a scanned image of the letter, to
validate its authenticity.
5. One should not belittle the hardship this is causing to the
families of the Forgotten Detainees, many of whom are married with
young children. They said in one press statement, “We are
devastated and helpless and losing hope by the day that we will ever
see our loved ones.” Many are having to raise large families of
up to five children, single-handedly, having to cope with day-to-day
worries of shopping, paying bills, taking the children to school, in
some cases paying school fees to ensure their children get a good
Islamic upbringing – all in addition to trying to give the love of
two parents, and the discipline and tarbiyyah, all by themselves,
whilst internally battling the anguish of their companion torn from
their side in a raid in the cold hours of the morning. The wife of
one prisoner gave birth to her child whilst her husband was
incarcerated, and it is with tears in her eyes that she talks of how
she can remain patient with her own suffering but how it grieves her
deeply that her toddler-son is growing older without knowing his
father, whom he has only seen in a few prison visits.
You can show your support, emotionally and spiritually, and send
words of comfort and strength by posting messages for the families
on the CagePrisoners
discussion forum thread.
`
The Prophet (SAW) said, “...The most beloved of deeds to Allah
is to make another Muslim happy…” (at-Tabarani).
6. LutonMuslims, who are in direct contact with families and lawyers
of the detainees, have arranged for an account to be set up to
receive donations which can be used to assist the families
financially. The account details will be added here shortly.
Donate generously and raise funds through events, bazaars,
collections, for “Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of
the distressful aspects of this world, Allaah will rescue him from a
difficulty of the difficulties of the hereafter… Allah is helping
the servant as long as the servant is helping his brother."
(Muslim).
If you are in the locality of one of the families of the detainees,
and can offer more practical assistance then please contact
dawah@lutonmuslims.co.uk.
7. Download and print off copies of
the
Detention of Justice campaign leaflet, produced by Luton Muslims
– put them up in your schools, colleges, universities, Muslim
businesses, mosques and distribute them in your study circles and
events.
8. Organise events about the plight of the Belmarsh detainees in
your local areas. For students, hold events on campus. If you
require assistance, help organising speakers and media, then please
contact
dawah@lutonmuslims.co.uk.
Check our discussion forum and campaign download section for details
of any events which have been organised about the detainees, and
publicity materials which you can use to advertise them.
9. Approach the Imams of your masjids, the du’aat (callers to Islam)
and the community leaders, and Muslim organisations to take up this
cause and urge their members/community to participate in this
campaign. Ask them to devote at least one khutbah or lecture to this
topic, and direct them to the articles on our site for more material
that can be incorporated into the khutbah. Request their permission
to record the khutbah or lecture and send it to us to add to our
audio section.
10. Organise demonstrations and picketing outside British embassies
worldwide. For those in the UK, you can organise pickets outside
Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons, the Houses of Parliament. Remain
within the law of the country that you are in, obtain appropriate
permission from the local authorities if you need to, be orderly,
but make your point heard loud and clear. The more money and time
that goes into organising a picket, the more effective it is and
well-attended.
11. Finally, do not forget to remember the Forgotten Detainees in
your supplications, in public and private. In public gatherings,
Friday Khutbahs, talks, speeches and lectures. In private, in your
prayers, in Ramadan, whilst fasting, in your tawaf, and in Tahajjud
night prayers. This is one of our most important weapons as the
Prophet (salla Allaahu ‘alayhi was-salam) said, “No Muslim
servant (of Allah) prays for his brother in his absence except that
the angels say, “And for you the same”.” (Muslim) and that
"Verily Allah helps this ummah on account its weak ones, due
to their supplications, prayers and sincerity." (Sahih al-Targhib
wa al-Tarhib).
Updated on the 14th March to the following location -
www.lutonmuslims.co.uk/forgottendetainees2.htm |
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