Freedom from imprisonment by deranged zealots

Well, for some people anyway.

It's great that Norman Kember was rescued this week from his imprisonment in Iraq. This must be a joyous time for him and his family and is cause for celebration any way you look at it.

However I can't help thinking also about the many people, including British residents, also being unlawfully detained in contravention of all international legal standards. Yes of course I'm talking about Guantanamo Bay. But we don't hear much about efforts and resources being spent on freeing them. All we get on this is hand wringing and empty words.

The last British citizens who were being held there have been released after years of detention and interrogation without trial. But this is no thanks to Tony Blair, who blatantly sold out his own citizens to ingratiate himself with George Bush.

Now, it can't possibly have anything to do with the fact that Kember is a white middle class Christian, and the Guantanamo detainees are about as far removed from that demographic as you can get. Surely not.

I'm not saying we should send the SAS in to storm Guantanamo, but I just want to see the same level of determination to end arbitrary lawless detention and mistreatment wherever it occurs, and to whom.