Free at last: Shaker Aamer

Imprisoned and tortured for over 13 years without charge or trial. What happened to Human Rights?

The last British resident to be kept prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, Shaker Aamer, has at last been freed and returned to Britain. Mr Aamer, who has never been charged or tried for any crime, has described being tortured in the presence of British agents.

Who says we don't need the Human Rights Act?

• Unprotected by Human Rights: the last 'British' prisoner in Guantanamo Bay

Who says we don't need the Human Rights Act? The government says, that’s who.

And yet.. it’s the government – and governments – against whom the Human Rights Act is supposed to defend us. Human rights law is only about protecting citizens of abuse by the State. 

And yet.. here we are, with the government of Britain – our State – wanting to reduce the very rights that would protect us from their abuse. And all seemingly with the explicit consent of large numbers of the population and the backing of much of the press.