Forgotten Prisoners of Guantanamo Bay

Plights of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay were highlighted in a lecture on “Forgotten Prisoners of Guantanamo Bay” by Mr. Zachary Katznelson, Legal Director of UK based Charity REPRIEVE on June 04, 2008. Sharing his views with a group of selected and concerned audience, Mr. Zachary said that 270 men were detained in the notorious prison but only 19 of them had been charged while none had ever undergone a trial.
    He regretted that despite America's so called advocacy for the human rights and rule of law, the prisoners in the custody of the US forces were denied even the most fundamental rights of free trial and justice on the pretext that Guantanamo was not situated on US soil.

Rights of the prisoners under international law and Geneva Convention were also denied because US official claimed that they did not apply to terrorists.

    Mr. Zachary said that Pakistani government should make all possible efforts to get its seven remaining citizens back home, including Saifullah Piracha.

    A paper based on Mr. Zachary Kartznelson's lecture is being published in the IPS Journal “Policy Perspectives,” July  December 2008, Vol. 5, No. 2.
    In his concluding remarks, M. Bilal, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan, said, “Every Pakistani must work for building more pressure on the leaders who are at the helm of affairs.”