Gitmo Alumni Reunion

Former Guantanamo detainees reunite for conference on torture and secret detentions

[snip]...Human Rights Watch has said it has evidence indicating the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania.

"I think that the European Commission should investigate these abuses," Amnesty International's Secretary-General Irene Kahn said at the opening of a three-day conference on prisoners and the U.S. war on terror.

Earlier this month, the European Commission -- the European Union's executive office -- promised to launch an informal probe, requesting answers from all 25 EU member states and candidate countries Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey. Some members of the European Parliament, however, have asked for a formal investigation...[/snip]

'Informal probe' or 'formal investigation?' Could it be that some behind closed doors some arm twisting was done by some entity to push for the former? I honestly have no idea. But to discount the possibility out of hand isn't very intellectually honest. I suspect that we'll never know the full truth.

Continuing:

[snip]...Moazzam Begg, 37, who was held at Guantanamo for three years, said that prison and other detention facilities were fueling hatred against Britain and the United States.

"If this continues ... I can almost guarantee that violence and terrorism will only proliferate," said Begg, who lives in Birmingham, England.

He said the British government refused to recognize the connection between prisons and terrorist attacks, such as the attacks in which four suspected suicide bombers killed 52 people in London on July 7.

"Part of the denial that (Prime Minister) Tony Blair has taken since the July 7 bombings has to do with Guantanamo. He is not in tune with the political reality of how people feel about this issue," Begg said.

The London conference drew former Guantanamo detainees from Britain, Russia and Afghanistan...[/snip]

(more at link

While I am sure that Mr. Begg was giving his best assessment, there is no established link between the bombings and the detentions of which I am aware.

However, the link between increased Arab protesting and increased animosity towards all torturers is certainly an established one. I should make it clear that the protesting is not limited to US/British allegations of abuse, but abuse throughout the Arab world as well. For instance, the Egyptian protests against abuses by their own prison system coincided with the International day for Victims of Torture 2005.