defend freedom
“This time, the hooded skeleton is in a three-piece suit,” Mr. al Haj explained. “The head is totally blacked out. The wrists are shackled at the back, with chains running down the legs. There are very elaborate arm bones, leg bones and the spine. And again the flag, the Jolly Roger of JTF-GTMO with a diabolical smile on the skull. The title is, naturally, ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom’, and it’s signed by me.”
Today (March 26, 2008) is the 440th day of Sami al Haj’s hunger strike, where his only demand is liberty or an open and fair trial.
“The phrase ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom’ is one of the Orwellian aspects of Guantánamo,” said Clive Stafford Smith, Director of Reprieve. “For most of the world, Guantánamo epitomizes the suppression of freedom, as illustrated by the situation of Sami al-Haj, who has been held without charge or trial for over six years, and then daily abused with a tube up his nose for force-feeding when he attempts to assert his right to embark on a peaceful hunger strike.”
“If the Administration wants to talk about ‘honor’ and ‘freedom’, it should either give Mr. al Haj a fair trial, or release him,” Mr. Stafford Smith added.
