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 Cageprisoners Presents:TWO SIDES - ONE STORY: GUANTANAMO FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE WIRE A national tour to mark seven years of unlawful detention, abuse and torture January 11th 2009 - 4th February 2009 SAMI AL HAJ (Ex Guantanamo Detainee and Aljazeera Journalist) CHRISTOPHER ARENDT (Ex-Guantanamo Guard) MOAZZAM BEGG (Ex-Guantanamo Detainee, Spokesman for Cageprisoners) Guantanamo Bay stands as one of the most potent symbols of unlawful detention in the world today. The detention of suspected terrorists as the prison camps has evoked emotion from those seeking its closure and continuance. Cageprisoners presents Two Sides – One Story, a tour of the UK that brings those on opposite sides of wire at Guantanamo together for the first time. Chris Arendt, a former guard at the base has agreed to speak about his experiences in detaining suspected terrorists and bring new insights into the way the US administration carried out policies against them. Also for the first time the detained Al Jazeera journalist Sami El Haj will be speaking with Moazzam Begg as they both reflect on life at the prison on the opposite to Chris. This unique tour is a historic moment in the continued War on Terror and will be launched on 11th January 2009, exactly seven years after the first transfers to Guantanamo Bay. Listen to Chris Arendt speaking to the BBC about Guantanamo Torture 11/01 – Friends' House, Euston Road, London Doors open 6:30pm 12/01 - Bristol with Bristol Stop the War Coalition and Bristol Amnesty International Kuumba Centre, 20-23 Hepburn Road (off Stokes Croft), BRISTOL, BS2 8UB 7.30pm Map: http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=bs2+8ub&countryCode=GB Contact: bristolstopwar@hotmail.com 13/01 - Reading With Reading Peace Group, Reading University Amnesty International Group, Reading Muslim Council. Room 27, Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Reading University, ! Whiteknights Campus, Shinfield Road, Reading, RG6 6UR. Campus map at http://www.reading.ac.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=21511&sID=89072 Doors open 7.15pm. 7.30pm- 9.45pm Contact: 0118 958 8281. 14/01 - Brighton with Brighton Against Guantanamo Friends Meeting House, Meeting House Lane, Brighton 7pm Contact: 07799564620 15/01 - Cambridge with Cambridge Stop the War Coalition 16/01 - Birmingham, 7pm The Rex Centre 430-434 Coventry Rd, Small Heath Birmingham, West Midlands, B10 0UG. Parking available on Wright Street. 19/01 - Nottingham University of Nottingham 20/01 - SheffieldWith Sheffield Guantanamo Campaign, Sheffield Hallam University Islamic Society, Sheffield Stop the War Coalition, Stop Islamophobia Society Sheffield University Grosvenor House Hotel, Charter Square, (Opposite Debenhams), Sheffield, S1 3EH Doors open 7:15pm Open to all. Contact: 07972 206218 21/01 - Manchester Geoffrey Manton Building Lecture Theatre 1 & 2 Manchester Metropolitan University Rosamond Street West All Saints, Manchester M15 6LL Doors open 5:30pm, 6pm start Contact: 07809505764 mmuisocheadbrother@hotmail.com mmuisocheadsister@hotmail.com 22/01 - Liverpool with Merseyside Stop the War The Great Hall, at the Cornerstone Theatre, Hope University, 1 Haigh St, Near Staples (of Islington & Shaw St), Liverpool City Centre Click here for map 7pm Contact: merseysidestopthewarcoalition@blueyonder.co.uk 23/01 - Blackburn with Woman's Voice and ExChange 2pm - 3:30pm Blackburn Cathedral, Cathedral Close, Blackburn BB1 5AA Contact: 07903731106/01254 503081 23/01 - Bolton 5pm - 7:30pm Bolton Council of Mosques Conference Suite, 1 Vicarage Street ( off Cannon St) Bolton BL3 5LE Contact: 01204 363680 / saima@thebcom.org 26/01 - Leeds, with Leeds University Islamic Society 27/01 - Hull, with Hull Peace Campaign Quaker Meeting House Bean Street Hull HU3 2PR Contact: John Beardmore and Martin Dean, 01482 327574 johnsbeardmore@quakermeeting.karoo.co.uk 28/01 - York York ! CampusUniversity of York Heslington, York, YO10 5DD 6-8pm 29/01 - Newcastle with Newcastle Stop the War Coalition 7:30pm Herschel Building Newcastle University (opposite Haymarket Metro) Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU Contact: 0771 994 6814/ nestopwar@yahoo.co.uk 30/01 - Glasgow Supported by SACC and Glasgow Stop the War Coalition 7pm Adelaides, 209 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HZ. Contact: richard@saccnet.org.uk 07936432519 31/01 - Edinburgh, Supported by SACC and Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition 2:30pm Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh Contact: richard@saccnet.org.uk 07936432519 02/02 - Oxford Supported by the Oxford Union and the Oxford University Islamic Socie! ty 8pm The Oxford Union Frewin Court Oxford OX1 3JB 03/02 - Belfast 04/02 - Cardiff Supported by Cardiff Stop the War Coalition 7:00pm - 9:00pm Cardiff University Cardiff, Wales Contact: cardiff_troopsout@hotmail.com For further information: 07973-264-197 contact@cageprisoners.com www.cageprisoners.com/tour CHRISTOPHER ARENDT At the age of 17, Chris Arendt joined the United States Army National Guard due to limited options that he faced in his life. Three years later, Arendt was one of a number of soldiers who were given orders to be deployed at Guantanamo Bay. In January 2004 he began his tour of Guantanamo where he was given the responsibility of feeding the detainees and ensuring that toilet paper was properly dispensed on the prison blocks. Arendt's time with the prisoners was cut to two months at which point he was placed at the detentions operations centre as the escort control. He had been moved from his former position due to his interaction with the prisoners who he would speak with in order to keep some sense of his humanity. Arendt's dislike for the way in which the detainees at Guantanamo were treated transferred through to his release from service. He has now become an outspoken advocate against the unlawful detentions at Guantanamo Bay choosing to contact former detainees in order to express his regret at having been involved in their detention. SAMI MUHYIDEEN AL HAJ Working as a cameraman for Al Jazeera, Sami was given an assignment to cover the US conflict in Afghanistan after war broke out in 2001. Upon entering Pakistan to renew his visa, Sami was detained by the Pakistan authorities apparently at the behest of the US. After several months detention in Afghanistan, Sami was rendered to Guantanamo Bay where he was detained until his release in 2008. During the six years of his unlawful detention, he was never charged with any crime and or tried in court. Due to the pressure of such a process, he forced himself to go on hunger strike during the last 16 months of his detention. On 1st May 2008, Sami was repatriated to Sudan where he was reunited with his wife and seven year old son who he had never met. He has now been re-employed by Al Jazeera and has made it his primary aim to help those in Guantanamo and those who suffer human rights abuses worldwide. MOAZZAM BEGG As a former Guantanamo detainee and spokesman for the prisoner human rights organisation, Cageprisoners, Moazzam appears extensively both in the media and around the UK, lecturing on issues surround torture, anti-terror legislation and community relations. He has authored several pieces that have appeared in national and international newspapers, and a book detailing life as a Muslim living in the UK and his further experience in Guantanamo. "Enemy Combatant" is the first book to be published by a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner. |
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