Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2013-12-09

CagePrisoners is a human rights organisation that exists solely to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror.

With Muslim communities around the world being targeted by the global ‘War on Terror’ a response is required that brings together the Islamic world with the non-Islamic one.

The Muslim Lawyers Association (MLA) will be hosting a country wide tour of a delegation from the UK based NGO, CagePrisoners between the 9th and 15th of December 2013.

CagePrisoners is the only organisation with former Guantanamo detainees and survivors of the ‘War on terror’ as board and staff members.

The organization has been at the forefront of documenting violations of human rights abuses in the War on Terror and has published several cutting edge reports highlighting Western complicity in torture and rendition, secret prison sites and also draconian policies and legislation that have eroded civil liberties and freedom.

The delegation will be touring Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and there will be public talks in the major cities as well as a seminar at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg on the 10th of December at 13:00.

Among those in the delegation is Moazzam Begg who is one of nine British citizens who were held at Camp X-Ray, Guantánamo Bay by the US government.

Begg was released without charge but received no compensation or apology. He is the author of Enemy Combatant, the first book to be published by a former Guantánamo Bay prisoner. He is also featured in many award-winning documentary films including, Al-Jazeera’s Prisoner 345 and National Geographic’s Inside Guantanamo and Taxi to the Dark Side which received an academy award (Oscar) in 2008.

A published poet, Begg’s work appears in the highly acclaimed anthology, Poems from Guantanamo.

In January 2009, Begg made an historic tour around the UK with former Guantanamo guard, Christopher Arendt, in the Two Sides, One Story tour.

Begg was also closely involved in discussions with the foreign ministries of several European countries in order to seek the repatriation of prisoners from Guantanamo.

(Twitter: @Faizie143)