01:32UK: ‘Free Talha Ahsan’ rally pleas for return of extradited Briton from US
Protesters gathered outside London's Home Office on Sunday, in a welcome rally for Talha Ahsan, who was extradited to the US and kept in solitary confinement at Northern Correctional Facility maximum security prison in Connecticut since 2012. Talha Ahsan's father, Abu Ahsan, spoke emotionally at the rally about having his son taken away from his family. He added that despite his son having been freed on July 16, he has not yet seen him.
Ahsan, 34, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and is an award-winning poet, was held without charge in the UK for six years before being extradited to the US on alleged terrorism charges. His brother, Hamja Ahsan, has spoken out about "inhumane" prison conditions in the US.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 149 people were imprisoned at the US military's detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as of June 2014. Of those, 78 are still in prison after being cleared for release, while 38 are being held despite US government claims that, although they lack evidence to hold the individuals, they are "too dangerous" to be released. The youngest prisoner held at Guantanamo was 13 years old, while the oldest was 89. A total of 26 prisoners are alleged to have been tortured at secret detention centres run by the CIA prior to transfer to Guantanamo, where nine prisoners have died in custody.
01:32Protesters gathered outside London's Home Office on Sunday, in a welcome rally for Talha Ahsan, who was extradited to the US and kept in solitary confinement at Northern Correctional Facility maximum security prison in Connecticut since 2012. Talha Ahsan's father, Abu Ahsan, spoke emotionally at the rally about having his son taken away from his family. He added that despite his son having been freed on July 16, he has not yet seen him.
Ahsan, 34, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome and is an award-winning poet, was held without charge in the UK for six years before being extradited to the US on alleged terrorism charges. His brother, Hamja Ahsan, has spoken out about "inhumane" prison conditions in the US.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 149 people were imprisoned at the US military's detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as of June 2014. Of those, 78 are still in prison after being cleared for release, while 38 are being held despite US government claims that, although they lack evidence to hold the individuals, they are "too dangerous" to be released. The youngest prisoner held at Guantanamo was 13 years old, while the oldest was 89. A total of 26 prisoners are alleged to have been tortured at secret detention centres run by the CIA prior to transfer to Guantanamo, where nine prisoners have died in custody.