Shaker Aamer

Shaker Aamer
Aamer in Guantanamo (photo taken before 1 November 2007)
Born	(1966-12-21) 21 December 1966 (age 50)
Nationality	Saudi
Known for	Detained at Guantanamo Bay detainment camps from 2002 to 2015
Spouse(s)	Zin Siddique
Children	Four children

Shaker Aamer (born 21 December 1966) is a Saudi citizen who was held by the United States in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba for more than thirteen years without charge. He was the last British resident held in Guantanamo, released to Great Britain on October 30, 2015.

Aamer was seized in Afghanistan by bounty hunters, who handed him over to US forces in December 2001 during the United States invasion of the country. Two months later, the US rendered Aamer to the Guantánamo camp; he was held there without trial or charge. Aamer had been a legal resident in Britain for years before his imprisonment; the UK government repeatedly demanded his release, and many people there called for him to be released.

According to documents published in the Guantanamo Bay files leak, the US military Joint Task Force Guantanamo believed that Aamer had led a unit of fighters in Afghanistan, including the Battle of Tora Bora, while his family was paid a stipend by Osama bin Laden. The file asserts past associations with Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui. Aamer denies being involved in terrorist activity and his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said the leaked documents would not stand up in court. He claimed that part of the evidence came from an unreliable witness and that confessions Aamer made had been obtained through torture. Aamer’s father-in-law, Saaed Ahmed Siddique, said: "All of these claims have no basis. If any of this was true he would be in a court now." The Bush administration acknowledged later that it had no evidence against Aamer.

Aamer has never been charged with any wrongdoing, was never on trial, and his lawyer says he is "totally innocent." He was approved for transfer to Saudi Arabia by the Bush administration in 2007 and the Obama administration in 2009. He has been described as a "charismatic leader" who spoke up and fought for the rights of fellow prisoners. Aamer alleges that he has been subject to torture while in detention. Campaigners allege that the US refused to release Aamer because it feared he would expose torture inside the Guantanamo prison.