Former Guantanamo Chaplain tours UK for the first time, Shares platform with ex-detainees
By Cageprisoners
Cageprisoners is hosting a series of events around the UK, and inviting people to attend a truly unique opportunity to hear former US army Chaplain James Yee speak and discuss his experiences with former Guantánamo detainee and Cageprisoners’ spokesman, Moazzam Begg.
There are few people in the world who have never heard of the notorious US military prison facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. However, very few people have heard eye-witness accounts from US military personnel who served there — and even more rarely from Muslims within the US military.
Chaplain (Yusuf) James J. Yee, a former US Army Chaplain and graduate of West Point served as the Muslim Chaplain for the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003. While ministering to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Captain Yee advised camp commanders on detainee religious practices and objected to the cruel and degrading abuses to which the prisoners were subjected.
What sets Yee’s already unique story apart from others is how his fortune changed from being recognized twice as an outstanding officer serving the US military to being regarded as an enemy of the state. Captain Yee was arrested and imprisoned in a Naval brig for 76 days in September 2003 while being falsely accused of spying, espionage, and aiding the alleged Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners. He was held in solitary confinement and subjected to the same sensory deprivation techniques that were being used against the prisoners in Cuba that he had been ministering to.
Af! ter months of government investigation, all criminal charges w! ere drop ped. He tendered his resignation from the U.S. Army and received an Honorable Discharge on January 7, 2005. Upon separation he was awarded with a second Army Commendation medal for “exceptionally meritorious service.”
James Yee will be speaking with Moazzam Begg at the London Muslim Centre on Wednesday 5th December, (in conjunction with Q News and Hidden Detainees), in Birmingham on Thursday 6th December (co-organised by the Birmingham Guantanamo Coalition), where they will also be joined by the ‘Tipton Three’, and in Luton on Sunday 9th December.
Yee will also be touring the UK, in conjunction with FOSIS, Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, Save Omar Deghayes Campaign, and speaking in a host of cities, amongst them Glasgow, Dundee, Brighton, Manchester, and Lampeter. For full details of his UK itinery see: http://www.cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=596
Copies of Yee’s gripping account of his Guantanamo experience and struggle for justice For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire will also be available at most events
Dates:
London — 5/12/07
Cageprisoners, Hidden Detainees and Q News
London Muslim Centre, Whitechapel, E1
6:30pm
Birmingham – 6/12/07
Cageprisoners and Birmingham Guantanamo Campaign
with the Tipton Three
Carrs Lane Church Centre, Carrs Lane, Birmingham B4 7SX
7pm
Luton – 9/12/07
Cageprisoners
Dallow Community Centre, 234 Dallow Road, Luton, LU1 1TF
5:30pm