http://www.english.hadhramaut.info Families of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees call for their release [The Source: SANA'A/hadharamaut.info/sabanews.net - 21/01/2011] A number of Yemeni families have demanded the release of Yemenis detained in the US-run Guantanamo prison and the Bagram Base in Afghanistan. During their rally in Sana'a, they called on the Yemeni government to exert efforts with the US administration for the speedy release of the Yemeni Guantanamo detainees who are languishing in the ill-reputed prison without having committed any fault. A rally was attended Sami al-Hajj, former Guantanamo prisoner and president of al-Jazeera TV's Freedoms Centre in addition to scores of families, including men and women, and legal activists.The supporters wore orange badges to express their solidarity with the detainees in Guantanamo, who wear clothes in the same colour. Moreover, protestors raised pictures of the prisoners and placards demanding their return. A sister of detainee Abdul-Salam al-Hilah said she is directing her plea to President Ali Abdullah Saleh to take action for the release of her brother.She indicated that there were attempts to kill and assassinate him in Guantanamo, and that he suffers from several ailments, including diabetes and hypertension adding he had suffered much during his years of imprisonment."His mother had passed away hoping to see him and two of his children were killed in a terrible accident", she said.The parents of the prisoners sent a message to the Yemeni government urging it to shoulder its responsibilities and work on the release of its citizens from the US prisons.For his part, Sami al-Hajj called on the Yemeni government to take immediate and real action to rescue the Yemeni prisoners in Guantanamo, who he said are "being subjected to the cruelest treatment, in addition to what the other prisoners are being subjected to".Al-Hajj described the Guantanamo prison as an outlaw prison, reminding that 50 Yemeni prisoners were exonerated by the US military courts more than three years ago, prior to his release, and they have not been released thus far.Al-Hajj indicated that the Americans claim that they fear the prisoners will return to their countries and that they will carry out terrorist acts, saying that if they did not practice terrorism to begin with and were punished for acts they did not carry out, how can they continue to detain them on false charges?Attorney Abdul-Rahman Barman of the non-government Hood Organization said that the number of Yemeni prisoners in Guantanamo is 92, in addition to two prisoners in the Bagram Prison in Afghanistan.Concerning Sami al-Hajj's participation in these activities in Yemen, Barman said that al-Hajj was a symbol for the prisoners in Guantanamo, who is a known media figure, and is carrying out his role to publicize the issue of the prisoners.He said there are those who were arrested nine years ago on terrorism related charges; however, the charges against them were not proven and they are being arrested and their rights are being violated, outside the framework of the international law.Yemen has repeatedly called for closing the US-run Guantanamo prison and returning Yemeni detainees to home.The Yemeni government also denied claims that Yemen had refused to receive Yemeni detainees still held in Guantanamo.