Des Turner MP should be congratulated for his efforts to end the detention of Omar Deghayes in Guantanamo Bay on his recent trip to the United States (The Argus, May 28).

However, his visit to Washington raises more questions than answers.

Des Turner reports that the Pentagon informed him Omar was not counted in the 20 per cent of detainees currently waiting for their release to be arranged with their home countries.

This contradicts the previously stated US Government position that Omar would be returned home to Brighton if the British Government would have him back. Indeed, Clint Williamson, US ambassador at large for war crimes, complained just last week on a Radio 4 news programme that European countries refusing to take back their refugees is holding up the closure of Guantanamo.

The Pentagon statement that Omar is considered a threat but they do not currently have a case prepared against him, is devastating news for his family and it also reveals the failure of the United States to uphold the most basic human rights.

If nothing has been found against Omar in the five years he has been detained then surely there is nothing to find. To imprison someone while you look for some kind of charge is the reverse of the idea of justice. We are all supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.

Once again, Save Omar activists have to ask: what is holding up Omar's release? Are they waiting for a fellow detainee to falsely name Omar as a terrorist in an attempt to end his own torture? Are they waiting for Omar himself to make a false confession?

I am sure the Pentagon representatives Des Turner met were immaculately dressed and no doubt they were meticulously polite. They probably wished him a nice day but I trust he wasn't fooled.

It is they who are the jailors of the most notorious torture chamber of the 21st century.

Louise Purbrick
Luther Street,
Brighton