Title: Lifeline for Families of Guantanamo Bay Detainees.
Date & location: TAIZ AND SANAA YEMEN. DECEMBER, 2005.
NATURAL WITH ARABIC AND ENGLISH SPEECH
Duration: 9'58''
Produced by: Jon Bjorgvinsson, Virginie Miranda
Source: ICRC – Access all.
Reference: CR-F-00897-A
Preview (RealMedia stream 56Kbs - 128kbs):
Yemen-icrc-newscut

This report will be distributed free-to-air and rights free over the the Eurovision network for European members at 12.30 GMT as well as on Eurovision World Feed satellites at 14.00 to 14.10 GMT on Thursday 26 January 2006.

For full details of the World feed, go to the EBU website and/or see below for timings and technical specification:


For broadcast tapes and information on footage: Virginie Miranda, ICRC, Geneva,

SHOWS:
TAIZ, YEMEN (RECENT) (ICRC - ACCESS ALL)
00:00 VARIOUS OF TAIZ CITY IN YEMEN
00:08 VARIOUS OF TAIZ MARKET
00:30 YEMENI RED CRESCENT SOCIETY (YRCS) VOLUNTEER NAJIB SULTAN WALKING OUT OF YRCS BUILDINGS IN TAIZ
01:15 NAJIB SULTAN BRINGING THREE RED CROSS MESSAGES TO THE FAMILY (WHO WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS) OF A DETAINEE BEING HELD AT GUANTANAMO BAY
01:34 MOTHER OF DETAINEE READING LETTER (RED CROSS MESSAGE) WITH HER SON
02:04 LETTER (RED CROSS MESSAGE)
02:53 MOTHER READING LETTER WITH HER YOUNGEST SON
02:09 (SOUNDBITE – 20'') (Arabic) MOTHER OF THE DETAINEE AT GUANTANAMO BAY
SAYING:
"As far as the ICRC is concerned, my feeling when I receive a
message is strong relief when the words in it are reassuring, and I cry when the message is sad. I pray to God for his liberation, for it to happen as soon as possible. I miss him very much."
02:37 (SOUNDBITE - 28'') (Arabic) MOTHER OF DETAINEE AT GUANTANAMO BAY SAYING:
"I'm really sad that he's over there. Why does he live at
Guantanamo Bay? That's why I'm so sad, and why I will be all my
life.I am crying"
02:55 (SOUNDBITE - 18'') (Arabic) MOTHER OF DETAINEE SAYING:
"My son lives there and I'm left here all by myself. That makes me
sad."
03:01 (SOUNDBITE – 17'') (Arabic) MOTHER OF DETAINEE SAYING:
"When the message is delayed, I get depressed, I can't handle it
and God knows I go mad." HER SONS ADDS (English) "she will be crazy."
03:12 VARIOUS OF MOTHER OF DETAINEE SHOWING PICTURES OF HER FAMILY AND
CHILDREN

TAIZ, YEMEN (RECENT) (ICRC - ACCESS ALL)
03:24 YEMENI RED CRESCENT SOCIETY (YRCS) VOLUNTEER NAJIB SULTAN IN TAIZZ STREETS, GREETS BASSAM NAGI BROTHER OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEE
03:40 (YRCS) VOLUNTEER NAJIB SULTAN BRINGS A RED CROSS MESSAGE TO NAGI HASSAN, FATHER OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEE
03:58 NAGI HASSAN READS LETTER (RED CROSS MESSAGE)
04:03 (SOUNDBITE – 15') (Arabic) NAGI HASSAN FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING
"It's the ICRC that brings us the letters. It's the ICRC that makes it possible for the detainees to write to their families."
04:19 (SOUNDBITE – 23') (Arabic) NAGI HASSAN FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING
"What I want more than anything is to see my son again. Nothing could make me happier."
"As long as there are lawyers and human rights organizations, I know my son will return."

04:42 (SOUNDBITE – 29') (Arabic) YEMENI RED CRESCENT SOCIETY (YRCS) VOLUNTEER NAJIB SULTAN SAYING

"I like the work I do. It's very important to find out what has happened to the people who have gone missing. It's a big responsibility."
"Red Cross messages bring some hope to the families. These messages are the only way for the detainees and their families to keep in touch. We appreciate the work being done by the ICRC and the Red Crescent. It is important to pay attention to the hopes and wishes of the families."

05:12 (SOUNDBITE – 20') (Arabic) YEMENI RED CRESCENT SOCIETY (YRCS) VOLUNTEER NAJIB SULTAN SAYING
"It's very hard on them. They're devout people who live simple lives and have strong family ties. When someone goes missing, the strain is almost unbearable. Social ties are very important."


05:35 KARIM ALI AL-HAJ BROTHER OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEE COMING BACK FROM SCHOOL
05:43 KARIM SITS WITH HIS FATHER ABDUL ALI AL-HAJ
05:51 VARIOUS KARIM AND ABDUL WRITING A RED CROSS MESSAGE
06:24 (SOUNDBITE – 17'') (Arabic) KARIM ALI AL-HAJ BROTHER OF DETAINEE SAYING
"International humanitarian law is very important, it is now being taught in schools. Foreigners (ICRC delegates) have come to talk to us about this law, which helps the families of detainees."

06:34 (SOUNDBITE – 18'') (Arabic) ABDUL ALI AL-HAJ FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING
"If we didn’t have any news, if the ICRC hadn't brought us any messages, his mother and brothers would have gone mad. We wouldn't even have known where he was for the past four years."

06:52 (SOUNDBITE – 8'') (Arabic) ABDUL ALI AL-HAJ FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING
"The ICRC does a great job delivering the letters. But some letters never make it and we'd like to know why. Some letters never reach us and we'd like to know the reason why."

07:01 (SOUNDBITE – 8'') (Arabic) ABDUL ALI AL-HAJ FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING

"When there is no letter, his mother and his brothers worry – we all worry, we fear he has been killed."

07:09 (SOUNDBITE – 24'') (Arabic) ABDUL ALI AL-HAJ FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING

"We're so happy when we get a letter – it's almost as if he were here with us, sitting next to his brother, talking to us in person. When we get a letter, we are filled with joy!"

07:32(SOUNDBITE – 7'') (Arabic) ABDUL ALI AL-HAJ FATHER OF DETAINEE SAYING

It's as if he were not in that situation. It's a comfort to get his letters. To us, they mean everything."

07:39 (SOUNDBITE – 49'') (English) VINCENT CASSARD, Head of unit, Central Tracing Agency, ICRC in GENEVA.

"Well two things I would say: I understand his frustration because I've seen it as well when I was working in Guantanamo. I've seen the same frustration with the detainees. And second, that we are putting many, many much efforts to reduce this delay because we understand it."
"We have a constraint which is that the messages have to go through censorship they have to be read by the authorities. It can only be family news that we bring and second we want to bring original documents to the families not photocopies, therefore it takes time sometimes to go to some remote areas."
"But we understand that it is extremely important even if tiny news, sad news or good news, it's the only way to maintain a lifeline with the families so it's one of our priorities."


08:28 TAIZ - BOYS HIGH SCHOOL.
VARIOUS SHOTS of EXPLORING HUMANITARIAN LAW PROGRAMME AT THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW CLUB CLASSES.
STUDENT PRESENTATION SHOWING POSTER SPEAKING ABOUT HENRY DUNANT

NATURAL SOUND:
"He was shocked by the carnage he saw at Solferino, where Italian and Austrian troops waged a fierce battle. On his return to Switzerland, he (Henry Dunant) wrote A Memory of Solferino, in which he made two proposals: first, that relief societies be set up in peacetime to assist the victims of armed conflicts and second, that international treaty law recognize and protect volunteer relief workers. "

NATURAL SOUND:
"…and the Red Crescent. As you can see, this simple tent represents both the Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations."

NATURAL SOUND:
"…the transfer of archeological treasures from Iraq to other countries"

NATURAL SOUND:
"This shows the suffering of children in wartime. The pictures on the board shows the suffering of children in wartime. Many children have been killed, they have been massacred..."

NATURAL SOUND:
SHOWING CAR WITH RED CRESCENT EMBLEM
"These are aid workers. They help war victims."
08:52 VARIOUS OF KARIM ALI AL-HAJ BROTHER OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEE LISTENING TO INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW CLASS
09:36 MARKET STREETS IN SAANA
09:57 ENDS


STORY:
Letters from Yemeni men being detained by the US in Guantanamo Bay that are delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the
detainees' families are the only contact that the families have with their detained relatives.
The families say these messages play an important role in a context where very little is known about the detainees' legal status or the conditions under which they are held. The families say that the messages are the only proof that their detained loved ones are still alive as Abdul Ali Al-Haj father of a detainee says;
"We're so happy when we get a letter – it's almost as if he were here with us, sitting next to his brother, talking to us in person. When we get a letter, we are filled with joy!" ICRC delegates and volunteers from the Yemeni Red Crescent visit the families of detainees upon receipt of a message, and deliver it to the family. The occasion is always an intensely emotional one. "My feeling when I receive a message, is strong relief when the words in it are reassuring, and I cry when the message is sad. I pray to God for his liberation, for it to happen as soon as possible. I miss him very much", says one detainee's mother who wished to remain anonymous. The mother called for the release of her son from the U.S. detention camp.
"I'm really sad that he's over there. Why does he live at Guantanamo Bay? That's why I'm so sad, and why I will be all my life," she said.

Besides providing emotional relief for the families, however, these messages give very little indication of what the detainees endure in Guantanamo. They allow detainees to reassure their families that they are still alive and well, but give no details of their daily existence, because the letters are subject to stringent censorship by the U.S. authorities. These messages are censored. It is not unusual, wherever you go in the world, in a prison, the authorities will censor what goes in and comes out. It's important that the letters are limited to strictly personal, family related content, and they cannot be used to pass on political messages, or messages related to conflict situations.

For the ICRC, the question of the legal status of the persons detained by the US at Bagram in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, as well as the legal framework applicable to them remains unresolved. For many detainees at Guantanamo Bay nearly four years have passed since their arrest. The ICRC has always maintained that those detainees remaining at Guantanamo Bay should either be charged and tried, released, or be placed within a legal framework that governs their continued detention. The ICRC believes that the uncertainty about their fate has added to the mental and emotional strain experienced by many detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

When asked if it was important that the family stay in touch with their son, father Abdul Ali Al-Haj says: "If we didn’t have any news, if the ICRC hadn't brought us any messages, his mother and brothers would have gone mad. We wouldn't even have known where he was for the past four years."
For most detainees and their families, Red Cross messages are an important means of maintaining regular contact and alleviating feelings of isolation and uncertainty over their future. Red Cross messages are intended for the exchange of personal and family news and are censored by the US authorities. This corresponds to standard worldwide practice wherever the ICRC visits places of detention.

The ICRC has been visiting detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since January 2002. There are currently about 500 detainees from roughly 40 countries. As of early December 2005, the ICRC has facilitated the exchange of nearly 20,800 Red Cross messages between the detainees and their families in more than 30 countries.
The role of the ICRC, as an independent and neutral humanitarian organisation with a mandate conferred on it by states, is to regularly assess the conditions of detention, the treatment of detainees and respect of their fundamental judicial guarantees. The ICRC offers observations and makes recommendations for improvements - where appropriate - in the course of its ongoing confidential dialogue with the relevant authorities. Concerning Bagram, Guantanamo Bay and Charleston, the responsibility for ensuring that detainees are treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and other applicable bodies of law lies with the US authorities.
Contacts

ICRC Yemen: Hicham Hassan, communication delegate ICRC Sana'a Tel: ++9671 467 873 / 4 or Mobile: ++967 711 944 343 or Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 25 90 or ++41 79 251 93 18
About Guantanamo: Vincent Lusser, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 24 26 or ++41 79 217 32 64
About the Footage: Virginie Miranda, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++41 22 730 25 11 or ++41 79 251 93 14