Shaker Aamer has been held in Guantanamo Bay since 2002. He's a legal UK resident, is married to a British national and has 4 children. He was cleared for release years ago. So why is he still behind bars?
Through conversations with activists and former detainees, this film paints a picture of Aamer and his extraordinary situation; from the injustices he has endured to what his life has involved for the last decade. From Bagram to Guantanamo Bay, his story illustrates the "unlawful" measures that the US and UK governments continue to use to justify their War on Terror. They "ignore international law, Geneva conventions, and their own Constitution". Spectacle
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USA - Damage Control
- 15 min 33 sec [10 September 2012]
What would you do if you found yourself in the middle of a mass shooting? In the US they're spending a fortune to answer this question for people living in fear of an attack but wanting to keep their guns.
In a country where gun sales are up 20% since 2011, support for stricter laws in the US seems scarce."Most of the time I carry this Springfield XD nine millimetre" says Sharon, one of many Americans who feel that firearms provide safety. As laws remain unchanged, it falls to police and $200,000 training videos to give instructions on how to survive potential shootings. "The goal is not just to nurse the problem, but to solve it," officer Chris Paine insists.
SBS
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Afghanistan - Have you Heard of 9/11? (HD)
- 9 min 15 sec [10 September 2012]
In the West we take it for granted that everybody knows about the events of September 11th. But is this really the case, especially in some of the places that have been most affected by its consequences?
Amazingly, in Afghanistan, where for ten years a war has been fought with 9/11 as its root cause and justification, not only do many locals claim to be oblivious to 9/11 but it appears that so are the police and even some of the translators working with the US military. "We're farmers, we're just working in our fields. We don't know anything else about the world," they shrug. With high rates of illiteracy, poverty and lack of infrastructure, many Afghans live in what is close to a media vacuum. With American troops set to start withdrawing this year, it appears that they will leave with a huge number of Afghans never having really understood why they came in the first place. For the majority of US soldiers however, it's a different story. "Some of us still have a personal vendetta with the beings that roam here. I still find it very personal." Adam Pletts
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Sri Lanka - Tamil Goodbye
- 18 min 08 sec [10 September 2012]
Since the start of 2012 the number of Sri Lankan refugees - mostly Tamils - headed for Christmas Island has swelled. Are they fleeing persecution or merely opportunists seeking a shortcut to Australia? "I lost my money, my job, my land...everything," explains an asylum seeker intercepted on a boat bound for Australia. Thousands continue to make the journey, claiming to be in search of a life free from persecution. "Before the paramilitary could do anything to me, I fled the country," says one man. But while the Sri Lankan government maintain that life is improving and people should be more patient, its message appears to be falling on deaf ears. This report follows the Sri Lankan navy as it intercepts another boat loaded with asylum seekers bound for Australia, and asks: now the country's civil war is over, why are things so bad that people are still desperate to leave?
SBS
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Philippines - A Shining Light
- 10 min 52 sec [10 September 2012]
In the slums of Manila one man's simple idea is bringing light into the dark lives of thousands of poor residents. His bright idea has become so popular that the local prison has even set up a production line.
In makeshift houses that are mainly windowless, Illac Diaz pokes a plastic bottle filled with water through a specially cut hole in the roof, gathering natural light from outside and refracting it into the darkened rooms below. "It changes the whole dynamics of the family." And now Diaz is building whole schools, houses and clinics from recycled bottles. "We cannot wait for people to come and help us. This is a revolution from the bottom up." SBS
