CAGE urges Türkiye to release former Gitmo detainee Shaker Aamer

London — CAGE appeals to the Turkish authorities to halt the deportation of Shaker Aamer, release him from detention, and allow him to regularise his residency so he can remain in Türkiye with his wife and young child.

Shaker Aamer spent nearly 14 years in US custody, most of them at Guantanamo Bay, without charge or trial. He was cleared for release twice, tortured throughout, and finally freed in 2015 after a sustained international campaign. 

Now, more than a decade after his release, he is again being detained without charge. Turkish authorities have refused to renew his residence permit and placed a G-87 restriction code on him, despite there being no criminal investigation or prosecution against him in Türkiye. The shocking and disturbing fact is that the detention according to his lawyers is based on data originating from the United States, the same state that held him for over a decade without ever making a case against him. He is currently held at the Binkılıç Removal Centre facing deportation.

Shaker has built a life in Türkiye. He is married and is the father of a three-year-old child, and deportation would separate him from his family permanently.

Moazzam Begg, Senior Director at CAGE International, said:  "The United States held Shaker Aamer at Guantanamo for nearly 14 years and never produced a single charge against him. It would be a profound injustice for that same unproven suspicion to now cost him his home and his family. Türkiye has long offered refuge to people fleeing persecution, and we appeal to the Turkish authorities to extend that same protection to Shaker, release him, and allow him to regularise his residency so he can remain with his wife and child."