In her first new material since our 2011 album of the year, Let England Shake, PJ Harvey has released a protest song in support of the British Guantánamo Bay prisoner Shaker Aamer [via The Guardian].
Despite being cleared for release by both George Bush and Barack Obama, Aamer has been imprisoned in Guantánamo for 11 years. Speaking to The Guardian about the song, Clive Stafford Smith, Aamer’s lawyer and director of the justice organisation Reprieve, said: "We hope people listen to this song and think about Shaker Aamer’s plight: detained for 11 years, without charge or trial – despite having been cleared for release by both Bush and Obama.
"The UK government must do everything it can to bring Shaker back home to his wife and kids in London, where he belongs. PJ Harvey has written a wonderful song – I know Shaker will be deeply moved by it, and I only hope that, with the support of the public, he will one day be able to listen to it in freedom."
The song follows a recent video made for Reprieve by Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, demonstrating standard operating procedure force-feeding, as carried out in the detention camp, as well as a week-long fast recently undertaken by the actress Julie Christie in solidarity with the Guantánamo hunger-strikers.
Listen to and download ‘Shaker Aamer’ below and head to Reprieve for further information:
