Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington 2012
Occupation Journalist, historian, film director
Nationality United Kingdom
Subject Social history,
the war on terror
Website
andyworthington.co.uk

Andy Worthington is a British historian, investigative journalist, and film director.[1][2][3] He has published three books, and been published in numerous publications. In 2009 Worthington was the co-director of a documentary about the Guantánamo detainees.[4][5] Worthington is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post, a liberal news site.[6] Worthington published what has been described as the most definitive annotated list of all Guantánamo detainees.[7][8] In January 2010 he published the first annotated list of Bagram detainees.[9]

Worthington's most recent book is The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison.[10] Following its publication in October 2007, Worthington has published articles supplementing the information in his book, to track new developments. Michelle Shephard, author of Guantanamo's Child, when summing up other books on Guantánamo, described his book as: "Perhaps the single most important book to cover the big picture of Guantánamo", even though he "has never even been to Guantánamo Bay."[11] Stephen Grey, writing in the New Statesman, called the book "...a powerful, essential and long-overdue piece of research".[12]

Worthington and Polly Nash co-directed Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo, a 75-minute documentary.[4][5] The film focuses on the cases of United Kingdom citizen Moazzam Begg, and Omar Deghayes and Shaker Aamer, legal residents of the UK. In addition to interviews with Begg and Deghayes, there are interviews with lawyers Clive Stafford Smith and Tom Wilner, and Worthington himself.

Worthington articles have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, AlterNet, ZNet, the Future of Freedom Foundation and Amnesty International, and Qatar-based Al Jazeera. He has appeared on television with Iran-based Press TV[13] In 2008 he wrote the entry "Guantanamo Scandal" for Microsoft Encarta. In 2008, he started writing articles for Cageprisoners, and became its Senior Researcher in June 2010.[14]

Worthington has made numerous radio and television appearances as a commentator on Guantánamo since the publication of the book.[1][15][16]

His two earlier books were: Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield.[17][18] The first book concerns modern celebrations at the ancient astronomical site, and the differing interpretations of modern celebrants. The second book concerns a large confrontation between police and new age celebrants travelling to Stonehenge on 1 June 1985.

On 16 June 2009 Worthington revealed new information on the death of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi a former US ghost prisoner who died in a Libyan jail. He described in particular the prisons in which al Libi was held, and the ways in which torture was used by his interrogators.[19]

Worthington reported that former Guantánamo detainee, United Kingdom resident, and citizen of Libya Omar Deghayes was his link to a source within Libya who had spoken with Al Libi prior to his death.[19]

In 2010, Amnesty International was criticised for its partnership with Cageprisoners' Moazzam Begg by Gita Sahgal, its former Gender Unit head. Worthington defended Amnesty International and Begg, citing Islamophobia. He said, "I know from personal experience that Moazzam Begg is no extremist. We have met on numerous occasions, have had several long discussions, and have shared platforms together at many events."[20]

References

  1. 1 2 Andy Worthington. "About me". andyworthington.co.uk. self-published. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
  2. ↑ "Profile: Andy Worthington". London: The Guardian. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  3. ↑ "Andy Worthington". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  4. 1 2 Rich Klein (23 November 2009). "'Top Line' at the Movies: 'Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
  5. 1 2 Andy Worthington, Polly Nash (2009). "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo". Spectacle Films. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Howard Kurtz (9 July 2007). "A Blog That Made It Big". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  7. ↑ Andrew Sullivan (5 January 2010). "The Full Gitmo List". Atlantic magazine. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
  8. ↑ Juan Cole (5 January 2010). "Guantanamo: The Definitive Prisoner List (Updated for 2010)". Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
  9. ↑ Andy Worthington (26 January 2010). "Bagram: The First Ever Prisoner List (The Annotated Version)". Archived from the original on 27 January 2010.
  10. ↑ Andy Worthington (October 2007). The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-2665-8.
  11. ↑ Michelle Shephard (23 November 2008). "Guantanamo: A place that will live in infamy". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
  12. ↑ Stephen Grey (6 December 2007). "The Guantanamo Files: the Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  13. ↑ Video: Andy Worthington Discusses the Guantánamo Hunger Strike on Press TV22.3.13
  14. ↑ "Cageprisoners: People". Cageprisoners. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  15. ↑ Riz Khan (30 September 2009). "Is Bagram the new Guantanamo?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
  16. ↑ "After Years in Guantanamo Prison Without Charge, Future Even More Uncertain for Yemeni Detainees". Democracy Now. 8 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
  17. ↑ Andy Worthington. Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion. Alternative Albion. ISBN 1-872883-76-1.
  18. ↑ Andy Worthington. The Battle of the Beanfield. Enabler Publications. ISBN 0-9523316-6-7.
  19. 1 2 Andy Worthington (19 June 2009). "New Revelations About The Torture and Alleged Suicide of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi". The Public Record. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  20. ↑ Defending Moazzam Begg and Amnesty International, Andy Worthington, 10 February 2010

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