Someone once told me that in the future I would be one of those hippy activists that goes around naked and chains myself to railings. I haven't made it that far yet, but give me time.This charity and its work is extremely close to my heart, many who know me know that my childhood dream was to be an international Human Rights lawyer, saving lives and promoting justice (and not just because Mr Darcy from Bridget Jones did it) 

So on the 27th September 2014 I will be shaving my luscious locks off to raise money for this special cause: 

The charity first began its work representing prisoners on Death Row, taking on the cases of those who could not afford legal representation. When the monstrosity that is Guantánamo Bay was opened by the Bush Administration, the charity then began to try to aid the prisoners there. 

Because of all the mystery and secrecy surrounding this prison, even now 12 years after its opening, many people don't quite know what it is or what went on. 

• It is US military prison, "established to detain extremely dangerous prisoners" so they could be interrogated for information to fight the "War on Terror"
  
• The detainees were allowed to be held in custody indefinitely, without charge, and their status as terrorists resulted in them not being entitled to any of the protections of the Geneva Conventions. 
  
• The Founder of Reprieve sued for access to the prisoners there, and even then it was three years before the US Supreme Court allowed lawyers into the prison camp so they could begin to defend the prisoners’ rights.
  

This ended up being slightly problematic when Federal Appeals Court ruled that the prisoners had no legal rights in the United States.

Most of the evidence that is used to hold the prisoners is shaky at best, with a surprising number of them being captured in Pakistan as they were fleeing the Afghanistan war, and then sold to the US forces by bounty hunters. Files also detail how many innocents or marginal figures swept up by the Guantánamo dragnet because US forces thought they might be of some intelligence value.

Many of the prisoners claim that they were tortured for information, and advice from the Justice Department stated “The President can authorize a wide range of acts that might amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment but would not amount to torture and would therefore not be prosecutable under US law”

Interrogation techniques for discretionary use were approved at Guantánamo that include hooding, stripping, sensory deprivation, isolation, stress positions and the use of dogs to “induce stress”.

Over the years, the charity has helped secure the release of 65 prisoners (including every British prisoner), more than any other lawyer or law firm.

It was revealed that many of the prisoners have been cleared for release but are still being held in the Bay indefinitely. At present there are still 149 prisoners being detained.

Reprieve is currently working on 13 cases, but its ultimate goal is to see this prison closed.

So this is what I am raising money for, to aid this wonderful charity in its work, please please please be generous in your donations, I AM GOING TO BE BALD – so cough up.

If you would like more information, here are a few useful links:http://www.reprieve.org.uk/guantanamo/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/series/guantanamo-files-documents

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/publiceducation/guantanamostats/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwur2eBRDtvMS0gIuS-dYBEiQANBPMRwxaxsw1Tz5Kcpf69WVGA2xluUxSBBSWd09RVrUpPVoaAtKi8P8HAQ