If President Obama is serious about ending human rights violations by the US government in the name national security, he should use the speech to announce, among other points, that:

1)  Forced feeding will stop and the transfer of detainees cleared to leave will resume.  There are dozens cleared by the administration to leave the detention facility. Even under current Congressional conditions on transfers, these men can and must be transferred out where there are  countries to take them that will respect their human rights.

One example is Shaker Aamer. He has been cleared for transfer under the Bush and Obama administrations, and the British government says he should be free with his wife and children in London. Why has he not been transferred there? Instead of brutal force feeding of detainees, it’s time to fulfill human rights.

2) A high level White House official has been appointed to lead the effort to close Guantanamo. The official should be empowered to ensure that the detention facility is not only closed, but closed the right way:  by ending indefinite detention and the unfair military commissions, and ensuring that each detainee is either charged and fairly tried in federal court, or released. President Obama should also announce that he will veto any legislation that will hinder the effort to close the detention facility and continue human rights violations.

3)  The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture should be made public.  The recently completed report is the most exhaustive study to date of the CIA detention and interrogation program.  We have a right to know the truth and release of the report is an important step toward ensuring that the CIA never uses torture or ill-treatment again.

4) More information about the so-called targeted killing program will be made public, including the names and locations of those killed, and declassified versions of the secret administration legal memoranda. There must be independent and impartial investigations into alleged extrajudicial executions, and remedy for any killings found to be unlawful.

5) The world is not a battlefield. President Obama should reject the “global war” legal theory–that the U.S. can detain or kill anyone, anywhere pursuant to its fight against Al Qaeda and other armed groups–and recognize the applicability of international human rights law to all US counterterrorism efforts.

Desperate for justice, after over a decade of indefinite detention, at least 100 detainees have gone on a massive hunger strike in protest. According to media reports, 21 of these detainees are being shackled and force-fed through tubes to keep them alive, against their wishes.

Pressure to close the prison is at an all-time high. Responding to the strike, President Obama reiterated his vow to shutter the facility:

“I don’t want these individuals to die… Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe. [It] is contrary to who we are… and it needs to stop.” – President Obama, April 30, 2013

The time for promises is over. The time for action is now.

Tell Obama and Congress that you support closing Guantanamo now. 

Death should not be the only way out of Guantanamo.

Imprisoned in Guantanamo in 2002, Adnan Latif was never charged with a crime, denied the right to make his case in a fair trial, put in solitary confinement and tortured. A judge ordered his release in 2012. He died at Guantanamo on Sept. 8, 2012.

Nine prisoners have died waiting for justice in Guantanamo.

Obama blames an uncooperative Congress for frustrating his effort to close Guantanamo, but he is not without options for doing the right thing, right now. For example, dozens of detainees have been cleared to leave and can be transferred under current US law. People like Shaker Aamer, who the UK government says should be free with his family in London. Resolving such cases can happen now and would be a positive step.

For the remaining prisoners, charge and fairly try them in federal court, or release them.

President Obama must take action now and Congress must support, not hinder, the effort. Join us and send your message today – President Obama, make good on your promise to close Guantanamo.

Let’s end this shame. With your help, we can do it.

This post is also available in Spanish.

(Photo Credit: Dominic Chavez/EPA/Landov).

My cousin lives in Boston and I was worried that he was somehow affected by the attacks. It immediately brought me back to 9/11 and the memory of how powerless I felt watching the Twin Towers fall. Luckily, my cousin was fine. But it wasn’t true for others. The grief of losing family and friends is unbearable.

Deliberate attacks against civilians by individuals or armed groups are always human rights abuses. Amnesty International condemns the attacks in Boston in the strongest terms. The victims have a right to remedy, including to see those responsible brought to justice in a fair trial that respects human rights and reaffirms the rule of law.

The Obama administration is right to prosecute the suspect in criminal court and ignore those calling for denial of human rights and civil liberties. The trial must be fair, the suspect must be treated humanely and we must not let fear-mongering and discrimination flourish. We all want justice and security, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

The call from some members of Congress for the suspect to be held in military detention as an “enemy combatant” in order to conduct interrogations outside the due process requirements of the U.S. justice system was, rightly, a non-starter.

Reliance on the law of war to provide grounds for detention must be reserved for situations recognized by international humanitarian law as constituting armed conflicts. Amnesty International is currently unaware of any basis for concluding that the bombings and other violence in Boston are part of any armed conflict.

The US government’s embrace of a never-ending and vaguely defined “global war” against al Qa’ida and “associated forces” has already inflicted a decade of damage to human rights, from Guantánamo to drone strikes. It’s time to put the global battlefield theory to bed once and for all.

Unfortunately, we must also remind elected officials that discrimination on the base of race or religion is a human rights violation and that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are immoral, unequivocally illegal under US and international law, and never, ever justified.

Nearly 12 years after 9/11, I’m still perplexed by how anyone can think fighting terror with terror is a good idea. If terror is bad, then how can responding with terror be good?

The best response to terror is to refuse to be terrorized. Real justice and security come from human rights and the rule of law.

Sign our new petition telling President Obama and Congress that you support closing Guantanamo.

Imagine you’re Shaker Aamer, locked up without charge for 11 years, thousands of miles from home, despite being cleared, for years, to leave. The UK government has repeatedly intervened on your behalf in an effort to reunite you with your wife and children in London. But you’re still held. You go on hunger strike in an attempt to draw attention to your plight. You have told your lawyers that you and your fellow inmates are being beaten, deprived of sleep and punished just for protesting. And all this is being done by the United States government, whose president promised four years and three months ago to shut Guantánamo for good. Just imagine.

Two months into the most recent hunger strike at Guantánamo and over three years after the deadline for closing the facility, President Obama has barely said a peep about his broken promise. But ignoring the problem at Guantánamo is simply unacceptable. The US government is obligated under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as other treaties and binding laws, to respect, protect and fulfill human rights. That’s a point made last week by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in this strong statement.

As High Commissioner Pillay points out, yes, those responsible for the September 11 attacks must be brought to justice, and the government has a duty and responsibility to ensure safety. But the US can’t exempt itself from its human rights obligations in doing either of these things. That’s why instead of Guantánamo, the criminal justice and law enforcement systems in the US – available from day one –  should be used. These systems are far from perfect and must themselves be reformed, but they are quipped to ensure justice for the 9/11 attacks and address any security risks posed by those held at Guantánamo.

President Obama must get serious about keeping his Guantánamo promise, including by:

1) Investigating the hunger strike and making sure no one is being abused. As detailed in this letter from Amnesty International to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, there must be a thorough review of the current situation which includes: evaluating cell-search policies, a serious effort to address sources of tension between the detainees and facility personnel, the status of access to independent medical care, responses to questions raised by detainees, their lawyers and human rights organizations, and information shared about developments.

2) Transferring out all those cleared to leave.  There are many people – like Shaker Aamer –  who have been cleared for years by the government, including the CIA, military and FBI, to leave the prison; and yet they remain in limbo. There’s no good reason. Under the restrictions and conditions on transfers Congress passed and President Obama signed earlier this year, detainees can be sent out of the prison, including through a certification process and waiver provision. Secretary of Defense Hagel should move forward with implementing that process.

3) Making a speech. What, more talk?! No – instead of empty rhetoric, President Obama should lay out his plan for closing the facility, and again make the case to Congress and the American people about why it’s important. His plan must include the right end result: that all detainees are either charged and fairly tried in criminal court, or released. And he should announce that he has appointed and empowered a high level position in the White House to lead the effort.

4) Taking a stand. President Obama should refuse to sign any legislation that would renew Congress’ restrictions on the use of appropriated funds to transfer detainees to the mainland US for criminal trial or release(Section 1027 of the FY 2013 NDAA), or that would renew the conditions on the transfer of detainees to other countries (Section 1028).

5) Dropping the paradigm of never-ending and vaguely defined “global war.” President Obama has embraced indefinite detention and the Guantánamo military commissions based on the fundamentally flawed  idea that the world is a battlefield to which international human rights law does not apply. Hence, closing Guantánamo could just mean relocating these human rights violations somewhere else. Real reform of US security policy requires ditching the “global war” framework and ensuring all people are either fairly tried or released.

You can help.

Join the April 11 Day of Action Against Guantánamo. Amnesty, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Witness Against Torture and many other nonpartisan human rights and civil liberties organizations are calling on President Obama to get serious about his Guantánamo promise. You can:

• Join or organize an orange jumpsuit protest (we’ll help! E-mail security@aiusa.org);
• Call the White House comment line at 202.456.1111;
• Tweet: @BarackObama @WhiteHouse Keep your promise to Close #Guantánamo.

But don’t stop there. Tell your friends, lobby your elected officials in Congress, take action all year and join the movement for human rights.

Sign our new petition telling President Obama and Congress that you support closing Guantanamo.

The Obama administration must follow the law on lethal force (Photo credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

It’s been a hectic 24 hours on the Obama administration’s use of drones and lethal force. As I write this, Senator Paul has accepted Attorney General Holder’s answer about drone strikes on US soil and the Senate has confirmed John Brennan—one of the architects of the drone killing program—as Director of the CIA. There’s a lot to unpack about what’s happened and where things stand now.

But I want to focus on what should happen next to make sure that no person—US citizen or anyone else—is killed outside the bounds of law with a drone or other weapons.

1) The Obama administration must follow existing law on the use of lethal force.

Senator Durbin said yesterday that the administration is interested in working with Congress to pass legislation, but that misses a key point, namely, that the law governing any state’s use of lethal force—whether with a drone or a gun or most other weapons—already exists: international human rights law and, in the exceptional circumstances where it applies, international humanitarian law as well. The US government must follow the law.

2) The never-ending “global war” must end.

As Senator Paul rightly pointed out in his epic filibuster last night, a central problem with the administration’s policy on armed drones and lethal force (and its policy on Guantanamo for that matter) is the idea that the world is a battlefield in a “global war” between the US and al Qaeda and other armed groups and individuals, and that only the law of armed conflict applies, to the exclusion of international human rights law. This “global war” theory was developed by the Bush administration and adopted by the Obama administration. It basically says to the world, we can ignore your human rights when we see fit. To change course, Congress should withdraw the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the administration should withdraw this Office of Legal Counsel memo by John Yoo that says the executive branch cannot be constrained by the AUMF or other laws passed by Congress.

3) The US government must recognize that ALL people are equal in rights.

It’s shameful that this isn’t a no-brainer. Despite the principle of universal human rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we so often find in the debates around countering terrorism the denial to others of the fundamental rights to life and liberty considered essential by Americans. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it recently in response to the terrible “kill court” idea:

“Do the United States and its people really want to tell those of us who live in the rest of the world that our lives are not of the same value as yours? That President Obama can sign off on a decision to kill us with less worry about judicial scrutiny than if the target is an American? Would your Supreme Court really want to tell humankind that we, like the slave Dred Scott in the 19th century, are not as human as you are? I cannot believe it.”

4) The “kill court” idea must be rejected.

If “global war” thinking hadn’t permeated so much of the way the US thinks and talks about how to deal with the threat of terrorism, the proposal by some to establish a special pre-strike “kill court”  for US citizens would immediately be rejected as a non-starter that misses the point.  A number of Senators have already rightly rejected it out of hand, but it continues to gain traction in part of the media and elsewhere. Such a court would be fundamentally unfair and mean that the US government was breaking the rules for when a state can use lethal force. What we do need is to ensure independent and impartial investigations in all cases of alleged extrajudicial executions or other unlawful killings, respect for the rights of family members of those killed, and effective redress and remedy where killings are found to have been unlawful.

5) The administration must tell the truth and Congress must conduct oversight. The public has a right to know when the Obama administration thinks it can kill. President Obama should publicly disclose the secret drone memos with only the redactions truly necessary, as well as the facts about who has been killed. Congress must play a stronger role. More hearings in Congress are needed, with survivors of drone strikes and independent experts in human rights and international law.

You can help:

Send this message to President Obama, your Senators and your Representative.

Anti-war protesters disrupt the start of a nomination hearing for U.S. Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan before the Senate Intelligence Committee February 7, 2013 in Washington, D.C. (Photo Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Yesterday,the Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed a new director of the CIA — John Brennan. He is a controversial figure, and as you read this Senator Rand Paul and a bi-partisan group of Senators may still be attempting to filibuster the final Senate vote on his nomination. (You can check here.)

What’s the controversy? John Brennan is one of the chief architects of the administration’s drone killing policy, which has reportedly resulted in 4,700 people killed so far, according to Senator Lindsey Graham.

Read that number again. 4,700 human beings killed. Call us crazy, but don’t you think the world — including the thousands of people and families directly affected by drone attacks worldwide – deserves to know on what basis the Obama administration claims the right to kill people?

No more secrets with human lives at stake. Tell the Obama administration to disclose the secret drone killing memos to the public and follow the “rule book” for the use of lethal force that already exists — international law.

Earlier today, Attorney General Holder again defended the U.S. drone killing program and said President Obama will soon do the same. The Obama administration claims its use of drones to kill is “legal,” “ethical,” and “wise.” But we’re not buying it.

International law permits the use of lethal force in very restricted circumstances. But from the little information made available to the public, U.S. dronestrike policy appears to allow extrajudicial executions in violation of the right to life, virtually anywhere in the world.

Public outcry over the killer drone program is growing. And with Brennan’s nomination and drones back in the headlines, Congress may finally be starting to listen.

The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning asked Attorney General Holder tough questions about drones and lethal force. But so far, survivors of drone strikes and experts in international human rights law have been missing from Washington’s drone conversation.

Despite all the talk that new laws, rules or a “kill court” are needed, the fact is that the “rule book” for the use of lethal force with drones already exists –international human rights law and, in the exceptional circumstances where it applies, international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict) as well. The Obama administration must follow the law. Congress and the courts must hold them to it.

Drones may be here to stay. But now is our best chance to make sure U.S. drone policy follows the rule book that protects all of us.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its ninth periodic oversight hearing of the Department of Justice on Wednesday, March 6th at 9 a.m. with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (Photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images).

On Wednesday March 6^th at 9 a.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its ninth periodic oversight hearing of the Department of Justice with Attorney General Eric Holder. It’s not a hearing on drones and the Obama administration’s counter terrorism policy, but it should be.

As we saw with the Senate Intelligence Committee’s confirmation hearing with John Brennan several weeks ago, the Obama administration’s killing program remains shrouded in secrecy and the little information we do know gives grounds to conclude that the program as a whole allows for the use of lethal force that violates the right to life under international law.

Join Amnesty International in urging Senate Judiciary Committee members to ask Attorney General Holder the following 5 questions about drones, Guantanamo and the administration’s “global war” legal theory, in order to help ensure that no person—US citizen or anyone else—is unlawfully killed or detained:

1) Will you release the secret Department of Justice memos on drone killing to Congress and the public—and, if not, why not?

2) Has the Department of Justice advised the Obama administration that the “rule book” for the use of lethal force already exists—namely, international human rights law and, in the exceptional circumstances it applies, international humanitarian law?

3) What is the Department of Justice doing to ensure independent and impartial investigations in all cases of alleged extrajudicial executions or other unlawful killings, respect for the rights of family members of those killed, and effective redress and remedy if killings are found to have been unlawful?

4) What is the Department of Justice doing to ensure that the US government resolves the Guantanamo detentions in line with its international human rights obligations, including by fulfilling the right to be free from arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial, and recognizing that, under international law, domestic law and politics do not justify a state’s failure to meet its treaty obligations?

5) How does the Obama administration’s global armed conflict paradigm comply with the international legal definition of armed conflict?

Take Action

Is one of your Senators on the Judiciary Committee? If so:

• Call and email their D.C. office and urge them to ask Amnesty’s 5 questions for Attorney General Holder.
• Tell them you’ll be watching the hearing and will listen for these questions.
• Also urge them to hold public hearings with drone strike survivors and independent experts on international human rights law and humanitarian law. You can use our web action at  http://www.amnestyusa.org/dronehearings
• If you’re on Twitter, join me @ZekeJohnsonAi in live Tweeting the hearing on Wednesday at 9 a.m. and be sure to Tweet at your Senators, for example: “Dear @___ ask AG Holder @Amnesty’s 5 questions on #drones & #Guantanamo [include a link to this blog]” or “Dear @ ______ we need a public hearing on #drones www.amnestyusa.org/dronehearings“

Newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry arrives in the UK at Stansted Airport on February 24, 2013 in Stansted, England. Kerry is embarking on his first foreign trip as Secretary of State with stops planned in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar before returning to Washington on March 6th. (Photo by Warrick Page/Getty Images)

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I know you have a lot on your plate as you begin your first trip overseas as Secretary of State. You’ll be visiting America’s allies in Europe and the Middle East, by my count nine countries in eleven days. According to press reports, the on-going conflict in Syria is going to be at the top of your agenda, which is as it should be. The latest estimates by the United Nations indicate that at least 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since unrest began. Human rights violations there have been appalling and wide-spread.

While you continue your important work on Syria, however, I hope that you can spare some time for the on-going human rights violations elsewhere in the Middle East.  Sadly, many of these violations are undertaken by America’s allies in the region, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

In particular, I’d like to talk to you about Turkey, one of our closest allies in the region. After a shaky start, US – Turkish relations are now quite strong. Yet, part of being a good friend means being honest. The recent comments of our Ambassador in Turkey, Francis Ricciardone, regarding the state of Turkish human rights were welcome, but they are sadly the exception rather than the rule. America can do more to support human rights in Turkey.

The human rights situation in Turkey is grave, Mr. Secretary. Kafkaesque trials result in long prison terms under Turkey’s bloated anti-terrorism statutes. These laws have resulted in tens of thousands imprisoned, including students, human rights activists, and their lawyers. Lengthy pre-trial detentions and shoddy care serve to punish even those who have not been found guilty of any crime. Speech deemed “offensive” can easily be prosecuted. The press has also been targeted; indeed, Turkey has earned the dubious distinction of having more journalists in prison than any other country. These arrests are only one part of a larger pattern of crushing critical voices.

Nonetheless, your forthcoming trip to Ankara could not have been better timed for working to address these grave human rights issues. The Turkish government knows that its international reputation has been damaged by these human rights violations and, particularly, by a string of rulings against it in the European Court of Human Rights. In this context, it has begun working on sweeping legal reforms, referred to as the “Fourth Judicial Package.”

This is a historic opportunity to support human rights, Mr. Secretary. It is incumbent on you to urge Turkish authorities to end its dithering and half-measures and truly bring Turkish law into line with international human rights standards. To aid you in your discussions, Amnesty has helpfully worked up a guide to the urgent steps Turkey must take. But the gist of it is this: Turkey must repeal or amend laws that have violated basic rights of freedom of expression, anti-terror laws must be changed to ensure that they no longer prosecute people for their beliefs, but only for recognizable criminal activity.

Turkey is an vital ally to the United States, Mr. Secretary. But we could be a better friend.  And true friendship includes some honesty about self-destructive behavior.

Best of luck on your important trip, Mr. Secretary. I hope you can make it a successful one.

Sincerely,

Howard Eissenstat
Turkey Country Specialist
Amnesty International, USA

By Justin Mazzola, Researcher at Amnesty International USA

This assignment was supposed to fulfill a career-long dream. In the ten years I have been employed by Amnesty International USA in research, the opportunity to travel to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to observe military commission proceedings against the detainees charged with leading involvement in the September 11th terrorist attacks was something I always wanted to experience firsthand.

I flew down to this US Naval station on the southeast edge of Cuba and I arrived Sunday evening just in time to gain my first experience of the ever-changing world of military commission justice when the press briefing rules were amended at the last minute to prevent observers from attending the opening press briefing by the defense and prosecution counsels.

As a human rights researcher, I somewhat knew what to expect. However as an attorney, this morning threw me a relative curveball, even from a military commission process which is now in its third incarnation with multiple legal challenges and stoppages in the past 12 years.  Even though I am used to the ups and downs of trial observation, as Monday’s proceedings began I could feel my anticipation growing while seated in the gallery.  I would not say “courtroom” since the physical courtroom is separated from us by a thick glass window while we watch what is happening before us on a television set to a 40-second time delay, with members of the armed services watching us in the gallery on one side while others watch the aptly named “permanent residents” of the island, such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, on the other.

The proceedings began promptly at 9:00 am. In terms of starting on time, if anything, military justice on Guantánamo is a more efficient process than what I’ve seen on the US mainland… and the arguments on a motion by the defense moved fast and furious.  An attorney for Walid bin Attash and the military judge began with a repartee about the quality of the food at the Galley on the base, with other members of the defense and prosecution weighing in with such descriptions as “terrible” to “great” to “excellent”.  Two out of three attorneys approve — the military chefs would have been proud.

This culinary discussion was interrupted by the defense attorneys’ arguments that their attorney-client privileges and confidentiality were at issue because the 27 microphones in the courtroom were picking up and recording their private, side conversations while the areas in Camp Echo that are used for attorney-client meetings were potentially being eavesdropped by some other governmental agency(ies).  After 70 minutes, the judge granted the defense motion for a recess until tomorrow morning.

My time spent viewing the unrestricted areas of the base on Sunday when I could view from afar the detention camp where the remaining Uighur detainees are still held, and attending a hearing which lasted 70 minutes, only serve to remind me of the obvious. This is not justice. This military commission system is no way to lawfully and fairly try the individuals responsible for any crime, let alone 9/11. And it is galling to consider that from day one, the ordinary US federal courts, with the capacity and experience to prosecute terrorism cases, have been available and open for business…

I suppose it could be said that at least these defendants have pre-trial hearings to break up the monotony of their detention. Unlike others, like Shaker Aamer, who sits in his cell, stranded in limbo, a “permanent resident” who has long been “approved for transfer” by the US authorities but is today approaching his 11th anniversary in detention at Guantánamo.

Enough is enough.  What I have seen on this trip so far only serves to reconfirm my belief in the calls of Amnesty International: End the detentions lawfully. Try those who can be charged for crimes recognized under international law in proceedings that meet fair trial standards in the United States.  Release those who cannot be charged to countries that will respect their human rights or into the USA.  And close this detention facility once and for all.

This Valentine’s Day marks 11 years in Guantanamo for Shaker Aamer. President Obama, charge Shaker or send him home!

Valentine’s Day is almost here — a bittersweet holiday for human rights activists who have been campaigning to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. February 14th marks a tragic milestone for Shaker Aamer, one of the detainee cases Amnesty International has worked on for years now.

11 years on February 14, 2013. That’s how long Shaker Aamer has spent behind bars at Guantanamo Bay Prison, without charge, without trial – really, without hope.

Tonight President Obama will give his State of the Union address, the first of his new administration. Will he mention how he broke his promise to close Guantanamo? Will Shaker Aamer’s name come up? President Obama has been given four more years to shape a legacy worthy of his Nobel Peace Prize. But Shaker Aamer can’t wait any longer for justice.

“I am dying here every day, mentally and physically… We have been ignored, locked up in the middle of the ocean…” These were Aamer’s words in 2005. Eight years ago.

It shouldn’t be this way. The thing is, Shaker Aamer has been cleared for transfer by the U.S. government. The UK government says he should be freed to the arms of his wife and children in London.

Shaker has one child he’s never even met. His son is 11 years old.

President Obama claims to stand for human rights. It’s time he takes a stand on Guantanamo and ensures that all detainees are either charged and fairly tried in federal court, or released. Even with the restrictions imposed by Congress on transfers of Guantanamo detainees, President Obama could send Shaker Aamer to his family in the UK. This MUST be the year Shaker’s case is resolved.

Shaker, 11 years later we cannot let you and others indefinitely detained in Guantanamo’s legal limbo be ignored. President Obama, as you’re giving your speech tonight, we ask you to think not only of the State of the Union, but of the State of Guantanamo. Think hard about your broken promise, about shattered lives like Shaker’s. Ponder the shameful impact of Guantanamo on human rights, international law – and your legacy.

Send President Obama a Valentine – a reminder of Shaker Aamer’s tragic anniversary, a reminder that this is another year gone by that Shaker Aamer has been held without concern for his human rights.

President Obama, have a heart.

Shaker Aamer’s valentine is one of 4 Amnesty human rights valentines you can send and share this year. Check them out at amnestyusa.org/valentines, and take action for human rights this Valentine’s Day!