Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington is a historian based in London. He is the author of The Guantánamo Files, the first book to tell the stories of all the detainees in Guantanámo. He writes regularly on issues related to Guantánamo and the "War on Terror" on his Web site.

A Start on Guantánamo, but Not Enough

Speaking at a press conference to mark his first 100 days in office, Barack Obama made two bold claims about the policies he has already implemented to tackle the executive overreach of the Bush administration, with regard to detention and interrogation policies in the "War on Terror." "We have rejected the false choice between our … Continue reading “A Start on Guantánamo, but Not Enough”

Britain’s Guantánamo

On Monday March 30, in a committee room in the House of Commons, Diane Abbott MP chaired a meeting entitled, "Britain’s Guantánamo? The use of secret evidence and evidence based on torture in the UK courts," to discuss the stories of some of the men held as "terror suspects" on the basis of secret evidence, … Continue reading “Britain’s Guantánamo”

A Letter To Barack Obama From A Guantánamo Uighur

There were once 22 Uighur prisoners in Guantánamo. Muslims from China’s oppressed Xinjiang province, they had all been swept up as human debris during “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the US-led invasion of Afghanistan that began in October 2001. The majority of these men were seized after fleeing to Pakistan from a run-down settlement in Afghanistan’s Tora … Continue reading “A Letter To Barack Obama From A Guantánamo Uighur”

Guantánamo’s Long-Term Hunger Striker Should Be Sent Home

Ahmed Zuhair, a 35-year old Saudi prisoner at Guantánamo – and a father of ten – has been on a hunger strike since June 2005, at the start of a fraught summer at the prison in which up to 200 prisoners (over a third of Guantánamo’s total population at the time) embarked on a mass … Continue reading “Guantánamo’s Long-Term Hunger Striker Should Be Sent Home”