ACTIONS URGENTES
UNITED KINGDOM : Jamil el-Banna (m), Jordanian national
Further information on UA 196/07 (EUR 45/014/2007, 1 August 2007),
Forcible return/Fear of Torture
EUR 45/015/2007
7 August 2007
On 7 August 2007 the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a press release stating that the Foreign Secretary has written to the US Secretary of State to "request the release from Guant·namo Bay and return to the UK of five men who, whilst not UK Nationals, were legally resident here prior to their detention."
Jamil el-Banna is one of the five men whose release from Guant·namo and return to the UK the government will be requesting. The UK authorities have indicated that negotiations over the release and return of the five men may take some time. It appears nonetheless that Jamil el-Banna will finally be permitted to return to the UK to rejoin his family, from whom he has been separated for more than four and a half years. It also appears that there is no longer an imminent risk of his being returned to Jordan, where he would - as the UK has already acknowledged, by recognizing him as a refugee - have faced a real risk of torture.
Many thanks to all who sent appeals. No further action is required.
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