Sami El Haj will be in Geneva to testify on his long years of arbitrary detention and torture he suffered on the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay where he was detained without charge or legal procedure for nearly seven long years. In protest against his conditions of detention and the absence of legal proceedings he had to initiate several hunger strikes.

His visit coincides with the celebration on June 26 of the United Nations Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

During his stay, Sami El Haj will have talks with officials from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the ICRC and human rights NGOs. A public event and a press conference are also included in the programme.

As part of its programme of assistance to those interned at Guantanamo, ALKARAMA had submitted his case to the UN mechanisms for the protection of human rights and had alerted these bodies on several occasions about his situation and requested that the arbitrary nature of his detention be formally recognized.

The Supreme Court of the United States, has also restored, in its judgement of June 12, 2008, the right of prisoners at Guantanamo to challenge the legality of their detention before U.S. courts under the "habeas corpus".

Commenting on this historic decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US supreme court recalled that: "The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times".

Program details of the visit will be announced shortly on our website.