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| Shaker Aamer fears he will die in Guantánamo Bay | Shaker Aamer fears he will die in Guantánamo Bay |
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| The last British resident in Guantánamo Bay, Shaker Aamer, fears he will die in the US detention camp despite his promised release, warning his family there are people “who do not want me ever to see the sun again”. | The last British resident in Guantánamo Bay, Shaker Aamer, fears he will die in the US detention camp despite his promised release, warning his family there are people “who do not want me ever to see the sun again”. |
| The 46-year-old, who is married to a British woman and lived in London before his detention by US forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, has also detailed what he says has been severe and persistent torture and mistreatment while in American custody. | The 46-year-old, who is married to a British woman and lived in London before his detention by US forces in Afghanistan in late 2001, has also detailed what he says has been severe and persistent torture and mistreatment while in American custody. |
| Just over a week ago Barack Obama’s administration told the US Congress it intended to free Aamer within 30 days, and return him to Britain, where his wife and four children live. | Just over a week ago Barack Obama’s administration told the US Congress it intended to free Aamer within 30 days, and return him to Britain, where his wife and four children live. |
| Related: Shaker Aamer, UK's last detainee in Guantánamo Bay, to be freed | |
| But in a phone call with his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, following the announcement, Aamer remained sceptical this would ever happen. A transcript of the call was reported by the Mail on Sunday, which has long campaigned for Aamer’s release. | |
| “I know there are people who do not want me ever to see the sun again,” Aamer told Smith of his captors. “It means nothing that they have signed papers, as anything can happen before I get out. So if I die, it will be the full responsibility of the Americans.” | “I know there are people who do not want me ever to see the sun again,” Aamer told Smith of his captors. “It means nothing that they have signed papers, as anything can happen before I get out. So if I die, it will be the full responsibility of the Americans.” |
| In another section of the call he passed a message to his family: “I will be very sick when I come back home. If anything happens to me before I do, it will be the Americans who are responsible. I am not going to do anything to myself. I know there are people who, even now, are working hard to keep me here.” | In another section of the call he passed a message to his family: “I will be very sick when I come back home. If anything happens to me before I do, it will be the Americans who are responsible. I am not going to do anything to myself. I know there are people who, even now, are working hard to keep me here.” |
| Aamer also told his lawyer he still faces abuse by US guards, and went on hunger strike in August to protest at his blood being forcibly taken for testing. | Aamer also told his lawyer he still faces abuse by US guards, and went on hunger strike in August to protest at his blood being forcibly taken for testing. |
| Separately, the Mail on Sunday has printed extracts of a lengthy statement Aamer gave to the Metropolitan police two years ago in which he detailed the alleged brutality he faced after being handed to US troops while in Afghanistan. The police force is investigating allegations of UK complicity in torture and rendition. | Separately, the Mail on Sunday has printed extracts of a lengthy statement Aamer gave to the Metropolitan police two years ago in which he detailed the alleged brutality he faced after being handed to US troops while in Afghanistan. The police force is investigating allegations of UK complicity in torture and rendition. |
| Aamer insists he was in the country to do charity work. The US has described him as a senior al-Qaida figure who knew Osama Bin Laden, but despite holding him for 14 years has never charged him with any offence. | Aamer insists he was in the country to do charity work. The US has described him as a senior al-Qaida figure who knew Osama Bin Laden, but despite holding him for 14 years has never charged him with any offence. |
| In his statement Aamer recounted being flown to the US’s Bagram airbase in Afghanistan shortly before Christmas 2001, where he was stripped naked and kept in a cage inside a hanger. Once there, Aamer said, he was subjected to sleep deprivation and beatings, including having his head knocked repeatedly against a wall. | |
| Although it was winter, there was no heating in the hanger, he said, adding: “I thought I was going to die from hypothermia.” | Although it was winter, there was no heating in the hanger, he said, adding: “I thought I was going to die from hypothermia.” |
| Aamer said he was interrogated by British agents at Bagram, who would have known people were being tortured there. He said: “All the time I had been in the tent I was hearing the screams and cries of others who were being abused. It was not possible for Brown to be there, or to be there interrogating me, without hearing this and knowing about our abuse.” | Aamer said he was interrogated by British agents at Bagram, who would have known people were being tortured there. He said: “All the time I had been in the tent I was hearing the screams and cries of others who were being abused. It was not possible for Brown to be there, or to be there interrogating me, without hearing this and knowing about our abuse.” |