Tag Archives: Moazzam Begg

Voyage du Retour

14 May

Il commence sans freins,
Se termine par une capture sans fins,
ce voyage.

Allongé dans ma cellule les yeux ouverts,
avec une joie et des sourires feints,
Je vois ma liberté consumée, mon heure venue -
Les larmes font déborder le vase de ma peine;
Ma maison est une cage aux barreaux d’acier
où le faux devient vrai, où les rêves sont brisés,
les espoirs tabassés,
où d’un nouveau statut on se voit gratifié!

L’ironie de tout ça – la détention et le reste:
Etre si petit et se tenir si haut.
Des années de larmes, des journées de labeur,
il ne reste que la peur, au bon plaisir des tyrans.
Une ordination qui expirera sûrement
sans tarder.
Mais en attendant, cette farce on doit l’endurer
seul.

Maintenant que l’on a bien appris sa leçon:
Que “la patience est une vertu”
Et que la vertu est forgée de fer,
Alors la poésie est mise en mouvement
(peut-être même sera-t-elle appréciée).

Encore et encore sur le papier j’écris,
Sachant quoi mais jamais quand -
là où les rêves commencent et les cauchemars
s’achèvent -
Je rentrerai chez moi auprès de ceux que j’aime.

-Moazzam Begg, Former Guantanamo Detainee

Read this poem in English

 

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Posted by aseerun on May 14, 2013 in Habsiyya, Poems by Moazzam Begg, Videos

 

Tags: Moazzam Begg, Poem, poems, Poems from Guantanamo, Poetry

Homeward Bound

14 May

Begins this journey without reins,
Ends in capture without aims;
Now lying in the cell awake,
with merriment and smiles all fake:

Freedom is spent, time is up
Tears have rent my sorrow’s cup;
Home is a cage, and cage is steel,
Thus manifest reality’s unreal.

Dreams are shattered, hopes are battered,
Yet with new status one is flattered!
The irony of it – detention and all;
Be so small, stand so tall.

Years of tears and days of toil
Are now but fears and tyrant’s spoil;
Ordainment has surely come to pass,
But endure alone one must this farce.

Now ‘patience is virtue’ taught,
And virtue is of iron wrought;
So poetry is in motion set
(perhaps, with appreciation met)

Still the papers do I pen,
Knowing what, but never when
As dreams begin, and nightmares end
I’m homeward bound to beloved tend.

-Moazzam Begg, Former Guantanamo Detainee

Lisez ce poème en français

 

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Posted by aseerun on May 14, 2013 in Habsiyya, Poems by Moazzam Begg, Videos

 

Tags: Moazzam Begg, Poem, poems, Poems from Guantanamo, Poetry

Dark World

29 Apr

 

A rhyme to passionless soul excite,
Words from heart and mind I write;
If reason can the flame ignite,
Then all the world I so invite

Maybe that the words I cite
Are unworthy of such a fight,
Yet error’s margin is but slight
So I forge ahead and verse recite:

Severity, from out of spite,
Functioning to cause a fright,
Occasioning, for some, delight,
Is violating human right

Tormenting strain is at a height,
Darkness blotting out sunlight,
All has disappeared, but night,
Eyes have shed their tears from light

Liberty, that’s borne of flight,
Is evident in avian kite,
But rays of sun are much too bright,
And gazing up just hurts the sight

Wishing not to seem contrite,
Or to violence incite,
Someone hearing this just might
Relieve us from this wretched plight

Awaiting anxiously respite,
The noose is closing in too tight.
Proceeding on ahead, despite
The guiltless beings they indict

Life is drained by parasite,
Inflicting pain as from a bite;
End is near, but not just quite…
My world is dark, and theirs – is white

-Moazzam Begg, 8th February 2004
Camp Echo (Solitary Confinement), Guantanamo Bay

 

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Posted by aseerun on April 29, 2012 in Habsiyya, Poems by Moazzam Begg

 

Tags: Moazzam Begg, Poem, poems, Poems from Guantanamo, Poetry

Absent Justice: Muslims in al-Maghrib & Their Plight

13 Mar

Moazzam Begg discusses the case of political prisoners in Morocco with Muhamed El Guerbouzi, a Moroccan political dissident, Yousef Dorghoul, a prisoner rights campaigner and Um Adam El-Mejjati, a human rights worker and the wife of a detainee.

Absent Justice is a new television series which looks at case studies from around the world relating to human rights and civil liberties violations. Join Moazzam Begg as he speaks to some inspiring and courageous individuals as they recount their struggle for justice.Every second Friday at 9pm, only on the Islam Channel [Sky channel 813]

 

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Posted by aseerun on March 13, 2012 in Collateral Damage, Videos

 

Tags: Absent Justice, Islam Chanel, Moazzam Begg, Morocco, Muhamed El Guerbouzi, Um Adam El-Mejjati, Yousef Dorghoul

What Would You Say?: Uhibbuka Fillah

05 Feb

Moving recollections from former detainees on those still trapped in Guantanamo.

 

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Posted by aseerun on February 5, 2012 in Campaigns, Videos

 

Tags: Bishir Al-Rawi, Feroz Ali Abbasi, Guantanamo, Jihad Dhiab, Moazzam Begg, Omar Khadr, Ravil Mingalov, Ruhal Ahmed, Shaker Aamer

Britain’s Guantanamo Survivors are Suffering a Toxic Legacy

02 Jan

After years of imprisonment, victims of America’s ‘icon of lawlessness’ were released without charge, but their lives have been shattered

Britain’s freed detainess, from left, Asif Iqbal, Jamil El Banna, Jamal al-Harith, Feroz Ali Abbasi, Bisher al-Rawi, Shafiq Rasul, Rhuhel Ahmed and Martin Mubanga. Photograph: Andy Hall for the Observer

They call each other “brother” and the warmth between them is tangible. Not close friends as such, they come from different walks of life, cultures and backgrounds, but have been thrown together by a shared experience. They are Britain’s survivors of Guantánamo, the detention centre that has been called the “gulag of our times”.

All were imprisoned, interrogated and held without charge or trial; some allege that they were tortured; all have suffered lasting effects to their mental and physical health.

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the first detainees arriving at Guantánamo Bay detention camps, where the open-mesh and barbed-wire cells became synonymous with the abuse of human rights and the scandal of illegal rendition. The camp was called an “icon of lawlessness” by Amnesty International because inside its high-security fences all conventions of international justice, from the Geneva Convention to access to legal representation, were ignored.

Still in operation despite Barack Obama‘s pre- and post-election pledges to close it, Guantánamo now houses 171 prisoners, including the last remaining British resident, Shaker Aamer. In total nine British citizens and six British residents were among the 774 adults and children imprisoned in Guantánamo camps, built on a US naval outpost on the southeastern tip of Cuba to house the “enemy combatants” of George Bush‘s war on terror.

All bar Aamer were released back to the UK without charge. All were interviewed by the British authorities on their return and allowed to go back to whatever remained salvageable of their lives and were later awarded out-of-court compensation for their extrajudicial ordeal. Four have had their travel outside the UK restricted.

Any involvement the men may or may not have had with the fighting in Afghanistan or with any terror plots has never been proved. Most, says Guantánamo expert and author Andy Worthington, were “a bunch of nobodies”.

“One tries to stay very objective in taking an overview of Guantánamo, but at the end of the day it’s pretty evident that all but a handful of the people caught up in the trawling approach the Americans took post-9/11 in Afghanistan were not terrorists,” he said.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

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Posted by aseerun on January 2, 2012 in News Items

 

Tags: Guantanamo, Shaker Aamer, Moazzam Begg, Asif Iqbal, Jamil El Banna, Jamal al-Harith, Feroz Ali Abbasi, Bisher al-Rawi, Shafiq Rasul, Rhuhel Ahmed, Martin Mubanga, gulag, Tipton Three, Tarek Dergoul, Omar Deghayes, Richard Dean Belmar, Binyam Mohamed, Sameur Abdenour

The Dagger’s Hilt

24 Dec

The pursuits of men are in disrepute
And the quest for wealth demands an encore,
But the dominance sought is so absolute
That excuses are conjured and declared is war

The region of conflict is centred in Asia:
Home of ‘Black Gold’ – birth-place of Man;
Confronting a barrier requiring erasure:
Onward they press and battle Islam

So combat is waged against a religion,
Provoking a spate of ignorant rancour;
But if observed from another position
The stage is prepared to settle a score:

Repeating itself – just like the Crusades-
History bears witness to sacred aggression;
For those in denial the memory fades,
Whilst “Freedom’s” champions wreak murderous session

The method’s not new – just time and place–
The “Savage” renamed without reservation;
Just follow footsteps, but when you retrace
Inquire: “What become of the Indian Nation?”

Or recall, if you will, in past century,
Africa’s children imported by wave;
Brought to you courtesy “Land of the Free”,
That ensured liberty (except for the slave!)

If armies are stationed, as we are told,
Throughout the world, in pursuance of peace,
Then what has fashioned this new strangle-hold,
Where missiles are hurled with violent increase?

Attacks on the air on September eleven
Kindled once more sweet vengeance’s flame;
Never forgotten or ever forgiven,
Those uninvolved must carry the blame

Like prisoners of conscience, raised to new heights,
Few are made present by merit alone;
Confined to cage, deprived any rights,
Laws are rewritten and oppression condoned

Years have elapsed in dull isolation,
Yet who dares admit the compounded error;
The will has collapsed from sheer desolation:
The result shall emit with unbounded terror

Hilts of the daggers, struck five inches deep,
Protrude from our backs, I fear to confess:
But “As ye hath sown, so shall ye reap”,
Retracting an inch, they call it “Progress!”

Written in Camp Echo Guantanamo Bay January 2005

 

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Posted by aseerun on December 24, 2011 in Habsiyya, Poems by Moazzam Begg

 

Tags: Camp Echo, Guantanamo, Guantanamo Bay, Moazzam Begg, Poem, poems, Poems from Guantanamo, Poetry

Absent Justice: Babar Ahmad

24 Oct

Asim Qureshi, Moazzam Begg, and Irshad Hussain speak with Phil Rees on the ‘Islam Channel’ show titled ‘Absent Justice: The Case of Babar Ahmad’ which aired on Friday 21st October 2011. The discussion hilights the abuse of Babar in police custody, dearth of plausible evidence, and the dangerous precedents set by the loosely regulated extradition treaty between Britain and America.

UK Residents Sign the Petition here 

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

August 2004 Babar Ahmad was arrested on an extradition request by the US. He is now in his eighth year behind bars, making him the longest British detainee held without trial. UK residents please sign the petition, allowing him the chance to stand trial in Britain, BEFORE 10th November 2011 deadline.

 

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Posted by aseerun on October 24, 2011 in Campaigns, Videos

 

Tags: Aafia Siddiqui, Absent Justice, Action Alert, Asim Qureshi, babar ahmad, Cageprisoners, extradition, http://freebabarahmad.com, Irshad Hussain, Moazzam Begg, Phil Rees

Canada Welcomes War Criminal While Turning Away the Victim of His Crimes

15 Oct

Moazzam Begg spends much of his life these days in airports and on flights, travelling the world speaking about human rights and his experience as a Guantanamo detainee.

The author of a book about his experience, Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment at Guantanamo, Bagram, and Kandahar, Begg was arrested in Pakistan and held at several US detention facilities abroad from 2002 until 2005 by the US government under the Bush Administration. He was never charged with any offence.

Moazzam had planned a 14-day trip to Canada to meet with Maher Arar and Abdullah Almalki, two Canadians rendered to Syria where they were brutally tortured. He had also hoped to meet with the family and legal team of Omar Khadr, the only Canadian child prisoner still held in Guantanamo. Begg met Omar in the US detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2002.

However the 42-year-old from Birmingham was denied entry to Canada at the Montreal airport Sunday on the grounds that his name is on a US no-fly list and because he has admitted, after torture and abuse by the Bush Administration, to being a former member of al Qaeda and the Taliban.

It was the second time in six months that Begg, director of a British human rights group, Cageprisoners, has attempted to come to Canada. Air Canada previously stopped him from boarding a flight from London bound for Toronto in May because of concerns the flight could be diverted to the US, he was told.  Read the rest of this entry »

 

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Posted by aseerun on October 15, 2011 in News Items

 

Tags: Abdullah Almalki, Bush, Bush Administration, Cageprisoners, George W. Bush Jr., Guantanamo, Human Rights Watch, Maher Arar, Moazzam Begg, Omar Khadr, war crimes, war criminal

Moazzam Begg on His Detainment & Refusal of Entrance to Canada

15 Oct

Why is Canada acting like a Guantánamo Bay camp guard?

This week, I became the first ever former Guantánamo prisoner to have stepped on North American soil as a free man.

Since my return from Guantánamo in 2005, I have travelled the world extensively and been welcomed by ordinary people, as well as world leaders, to talk about the effects of detention without trial and the uncontrolled abuse of power exercised during the US-led “war on terror”. And I’ve had meetings with some of the most powerful political figures in Europe, including Britain, and have delivered speeches in front of presidents and prime ministers. These countries include France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Slovakia, Poland, South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, Iran, Pakistan, UAE, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan – and Libya, where I met with some of that country’s new leaders, who had themselves been victims of US- and British-instigated rendition. I have not been hindered when entering any of these countries.

What I hadn’t done, however, is to take my message toNorth America, where, undoubtedly, I believe it matters most. Despite having had a book published there, I’ve never been to theUS – althoughAmerica has been to me. Notwithstanding numerous videolink lectures I’ve given to American colleges and institutions, I was not prepared to risk a visit to theUS. And I’m certain the feeling is mutual, at least on a governmental level.

Canada, on the other hand, was a different matter – or so I thought.  Read the rest of this entry »

 

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Posted by aseerun on October 15, 2011 in News Items

 

Tags: Bagram, Cageprisoners, Canada, CSIS, forced confession, Guantanamo, Moazzam Begg, no fly list, Omar Khadr, torture evidence

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