Andy Worthington

Andy Worthington
Worthington in 2012
Worthington in 2012
OccupationJournalist, historian, film director
NationalityBritish
SubjectBritish social history, Stonehenge
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, two on Stonehenge and one on the war on terror, been published in numerous publications and directed documentary films. Articles by Worthington have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post,[4] 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[5] In 2008, he began writing articles for Cageprisoners, and became its Senior Researcher in June 2010.[6]

Writing and reporting

His first two books were: Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield.[7][8] 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.

Worthington's third book is The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison. Following its publication in October 2007,[9] 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."[10] Stephen Grey, writing in the New Statesman, called the book "...a powerful, essential and long-overdue piece of research".[11]

In 2008, he wrote the entry "Guantanamo Scandal" for Microsoft Encarta.[citation needed]

In 2009, Worthington and Polly Nash co-directed Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo, a 75-minute documentary about the Guantánamo detainees.[12][13] 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.

In 2009, Worthington published what has been described as the most definitive annotated list of all Guantánamo detainees.[14][15] In January 2010, he published the first annotated list of Bagram detainees.[16]

Worthington has made many radio and television appearances as a commentator on Guantánamo since the publication of his third book.[1][17][18]

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]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b 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". The Guardian. London. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Andy Worthington". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  4. ^ Howard Kurtz (9 July 2007). "A Blog That Made It Big". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Video: Andy Worthington Discusses the Guantánamo Hunger Strike on Press TV". andyworthington.co.uk. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Cageprisoners: People". Cageprisoners. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  7. ^ Andy Worthington (2004). Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion. Alternative Albion. ISBN 1-872883-76-1.
  8. ^ Andy Worthington (2005). The Battle of the Beanfield. Enabler Publications. ISBN 0-9523316-6-7.
  9. ^ Worthington, Andy (October 2007). The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison. Pluto Press. ISBN 978-0-7453-2665-8.
  10. ^ Michelle Shephard (23 November 2008). "Guantanamo: A place that will live in infamy". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2008.
  11. ^ 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 13 August 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  12. ^ Rich Klein (23 November 2009). "'Top Line' at the Movies: 'Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009.
  13. ^ Andy Worthington, Polly Nash (2009). "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo". Spectacle Films. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010.
  14. ^ Andrew Sullivan (5 January 2010). "The Full Gitmo List". Atlantic magazine. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010.
  15. ^ Juan Cole (5 January 2010). "Guantanamo: The Definitive Prisoner List (Updated for 2010)". Archived from the original on 14 February 2010.
  16. ^ Andy Worthington (26 January 2010). "Bagram: The First Ever Prisoner List (The Annotated Version)". Archived from the original on 31 January 2010.
  17. ^ Riz Khan (30 September 2009). "Is Bagram the new Guantanamo?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010.
  18. ^ Worthington, Andy (8 January 2010). "After Years in Guantanamo Prison Without Charge, Future Even More Uncertain for Yemeni Detainees" (Interview). Interviewed by Amy Goodman. Democracy Now!. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  19. ^ a b 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. ^ Worthington, Andy (10 February 2010). "Defending Moazzam Begg and Amnesty International". Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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