[JURIST Europe] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] Monday condemned as "shameful" the British government's inattention to the plight of nine long-term British residents currently being held at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], Cuba, and called once again for the camp to be closed. British government officials responded to the criticism by pointing out that while the men lived for lengthy periods of time in the UK, in some cases even having British wives and children, the men themselves are not UK citizens, and thus the British government is not authorized to demand their release. The last UK nationals interned at Guantanamo were transferred to the UK [JURIST report] by US authorities in January 2005 and later released. Read the AI report [official text], which also chronicles the long-term effects of detention at Guantanamo Bay. The UK Independent has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.