Opinion | Editorials
Injustice continues in Guantanamo
Al Haj's nightmare has ended. But hundreds of others are still being held in the prison
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:05 May 3, 2008
The unjust imprisonment of an Al Jazeera cameraman detained by American forces in Afghanistan and held in Guantanamo for six years without charge has ended. But the injustice of Guantanamo continues.
On December 15, 2001, Sami Al Haj was arrested on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan while carrying out his work, which was to cover the war against the Taliban. His credentials were watertight and his paperwork was in order.
Despite the fact that he had a valid visa to work in Afghanistan, US intelligence alleged that he was an Al Qaida operative, and he was transferred to Guantanamo in June 2002.
His story is just one. Hundreds of prisoners are still held at Guantanamo and they are not as high profile as Al Haj. But their plight is no less important nor the injustice they suffer any less.
There are many who think that the imprisonment of Al Haj was never about the so-called war on terror. It was to teach, this theory goes, the uppity Al Jazeera television station a lesson.
Al Jazeera, with its graphic accounts of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been less than favoured night-time viewing for American officials.
Al Haj was an innocent man doing a remarkably brave job. His imprisonment is just one of hundreds of reasons why that lawless place, Guantanamo, must be shut down.
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