by Andy Worthington
4 March 2009
WorldCantWait.net
Andy Worthington, London-based journalist and author of “The Guantánamo
Files” (Pluto Press), has released the first definitive list of the 779
prisoners held in the US prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The list, which is the result of three years’ research and writing about Guantánamo,
provides details of the 533 prisoners who have been released, and includes,
for the first time ever, accurate dates for their release. It also provides
details of the 241 prisoners who are still held, including the 59 prisoners
who have been cleared for release. Although some stories are still unknown,
the stories of nearly 700 prisoners are referenced either by links to Andy’s
extensive archive of articles about Guantánamo, or to the chapters in
“The Guantánamo Files” where they can be found.
Andy Worthington says:
“It is my hope that this project will provide an invaluable research
tool for those seeking to understand how it came to pass that the government
of the United States turned its back on domestic and international law, establishing
torture as official US policy, and holding men without charge or trial neither
as prisoners of war, protected by the Geneva Conventions, nor as criminal suspects
to be put forward for trial in a federal court, but as ‘illegal enemy
combatants.’
“I also hope that it provides a compelling explanation of how that same
government, under the leadership of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld,
established a prison in which the overwhelming majority of those held — at
least 93 percent of the 779 men and boys imprisoned in total — were either
completely innocent people, seized as a result of dubious intelligence or sold
for bounty payments, or Taliban foot soldiers, recruited to fight an inter-Muslim
civil war that began long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,
and that had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or international terrorism.”
About the author
Andy Worthington studied English Language and Literature at New College, Oxford.
He writes regularly for the Guardian, the British human rights group Cageprisoners
and the Future of Freedom Foundation. He has also written for the New York Times,
Amnesty International, Index on Censorship, and FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy
in Reporting), and his articles are published regularly on the Huffington Post,
the Raw Story, AlterNet, Antiwar.com., World Can’t Wait, CounterPunch
and other websites. In 2008, he wrote the entry “Guantánamo Scandal”
for the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia.
“The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s
Illegal Prison” is published by Pluto Press, and distributed in the US
by Macmillan.
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-Guantánamo-files/
Andy is also the author of two books on modern British social history.
Andy is the author of “The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the
774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison” (published by Pluto Press/University
of Michigan Press) http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-Guantánamo-files/
Links to the list:
Part 1 (ISNs 002 to 200):
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/Guantánamo-the-definitive-prisoner-list-part-1/
Part 2 (ISNs 201 to 496):
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/Guantánamo-the-definitive-prisoner-list-part-2/
Part 3 (ISNs 497 to 732):
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/Guantánamo-the-definitive-prisoner-list-part-3/
Part 4 (ISNs 743 to 10030):
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/Guantánamo-the-definitive-prisoner-list-part-4/
Source URL: WorldCantWait.net