Dear Friends:

Included below is our response to President Obama’s comments today about Guantanamo.  The additional suffering that the men in Guantanamo have taken on themselves in this hunger strike has forced those in power to respond.  Because of their sacrifice, and the contributions of so many of you – in phone calls, vigils, letters, petitions, arrests, and many other creative actions – we are closer to Guantanamo’s closure today than we were yesterday.

But our work is far from done.  It is more important now than ever before to keep up all forms of pressure!

Please take a moment to read our response below, and look through the list at the end of this message to find ways to engage in the continuing work.

Peace-

Matt Daloisio

for Witness Against Torture

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No More Excuses – Anti-Guantanamo Activists Demand that President Obama Make Good on Promise to Restart Transfers and Close Guantanamo; Vow to Keep Pressure on President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 23, 2103

Contacts: Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424, daloisio@riseup.net

Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119, jvaron@aol.com

New York City/Washington, D.C. – Responding to the hunger strike at Guantanamo, President Obama announced in a speech today his wish to re-start the transfer of men from Guantanamo and for the closure of the US prison.  Anti-Guantanamo activists insist that the speech be followed by concrete steps — including the immediate transfer of men from the prison — to show that the Obama administration is serious.  86 men have been cleared for transfer and must be released now.

We agree with President Obama that “GTMO has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.”  The President must use his executive power and political leadership to at last close Guantanamo and end indefinite detention.  He must renounce the unprecedented, illegitimate, and increasingly discredited Military Commissions as an unacceptable substitute for true due process; and he must reject any policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial, and commit to bring credible suspects within a proper judicial system.  We applaud the courageous interruption of Obama’s speech, which underscores the emergency situation at the prison, and need for rapid closure of Guantanamo.

“It should not take men starving themselves to have President Obama stand up for the Constitution and human rights.” Says Matthew W. Daloisio, organizer with Witness Against Torture.  “We are more 11 years into the crime of Guantánamo and over 100 days into the current hunger strike.  The promise to transfer those cleared is important, but without immediate steps to release actual people, it is only another promise.”

“We have heard noble sentiments before from President Obama,” added Jeremy Varon of Witness Against Torture. “We will hold him to account.  It is not enough to release those who should have been released years ago.  Indefinite detention must end.  And the rule of law will never be fulfilled in Military Commissions.  Moving Guantanamo is not closing Guantanamo.    All held in the prison must be charged, tried in legitimate courts, or released.  We’ll be in the streets, at the steps of courthouses, in jail if necessary to make sure that Guantanamo closes.”

President Obama ended the Guantanamo portion of his speech today by asking the American people to “look at the current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are holding a hunger strike. Is that who we are? Is that something that our Founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?”

We may wish that this is not who we are.  But we will be judged by our actions, not our speeches.

Witness Against Torture and other groups will continue their vigils, rallies, solidarity fasts, calls to the White House, and direct actions until Guantanamo is shuttered.

Since the hunger strike began in early February, Witness Against Torture has held vigils in more than 30 cities and towns, had regular rallies at the White House, circulated a Change.org petition — signed by more than 210,000 people — demanding the closure of Guantanamo, helped organize a briefing for Congressional staff; coordinated a rolling fast in solidarity with the Hunger Strike and daily calls to the White House, Pentagon and the US Southern Command; and committed acts of civil disobedience.

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CONGRESSIONAL OUTREACH
Please call or e-mail your congressperson to ask them to sign on to Rep. Jim Moran’s (D-VA) ‘Dear Colleague’ letter to President Obama.  Send us a note if you would like a copy of the letter itself.

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WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE ROLLING FAST
Give up food for a day as part of Witness Against Torture’s ROLLING FAST.  Over 200 people have participated by fasting for some period of time since the Guantanamo Hunger Strike began.  Sign up for one day, or more.  Sign up as a community or as an office!  Download and send this letter to a man detained in Guantánamo.  The men on Hunger Strike know of, and very much appreciate our collective efforts at solidarity.

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HUNGER STRIKE SONG!

The Peace Poets, Witness Against Torture, and anti-mass incarceration activists have collaborated on The Hunger Strike Song. (PLEASE POST AND SHARE)

We will continue to gather for vigils, street theatre, song and action in NYC, including this Friday, May 24th in Washington Square Park (5:30pm), and next week for as part of a week of actions.  More information on weekly vigils in Chicago, Washington DC, and other locations can be found on our website.

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PHONE CALLS & LETTER WRITING

We have generated 100s of calls since the Hunger Strike began.  We are particularly focusing on calls to the U.S. Southern Command (where you will be able to speak to a person), but ask folks to call all of the numbers here:  Call the White House (202-456-1111, 202-456-1414), U.S. Southern Command (305-437-1213) and Department of Defense (703-571-3343) to express concern over the hunger strike and insist on Guantanamo’s closing.

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WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE SOCIAL MEDIA

Our Facebook page has been getting more and more traffic, and some weeks has reached over 200,000 people.  This is only possible when people like, share, and comment on posts.  Please ‘like’ us on
Facebook & Follow Us on Twitter

Post any pictures of your local activities to Flickr, and we will help spread the word on Tumblr.

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DONATE

Witness Against Torture is completely volunteer driven and run.  We have no paid staff, but do have expenses associated with our organizing work.  If you are able, please donate here.

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CONTACT: Gabe Cahn, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
gabe@rabinowitz-dorf.com, office: 202-265-3000, cell: 425-269-5541

FRIDAY, MAY 17 at White House: Day 100 Vigil for Guantanamo Hunger Strike
Coalition of activists to rally, deliver 300,000 petitions to pressure Obama to close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON – To mark the 100th day of the mass hunger strike at Guantanamo, a coalition of human rights activists will hold a vigil in front of the White House on Friday, May 17. In addition to public speakers and protestors in orange jumpsuits bringing attention to human rights violations and indefinite detention at the detention center at Guantanamo, the groups will deliver 300,000 petition signatures calling for the detention facility to be closed down. On April 30, President Obama recommitted himself and his administration to shutting down Guantanamo. On Friday, the detainee hunger strike will have breached the 100 day mark.

What: Day 100 Vigil urging President Obama to fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo. Speakers and activists in orange jumpsuits will call on President Obama to:

- Move forward with transferring cleared detainees out of the detention facility under the certification process and waiver provision put in place by Congress
- Appoint a high level position in the White House to lead the effort of closing the detention facility
- Make the case to Congress and the American people for removing the remaining transfer restrictions and closing the detention facility
- Ensure that all detainees are either charged and fairly tried in federal court, or released to countries that will respect their human rights

Who: A non-partisan coalition of human rights and civil liberties organizations, including:
• Amnesty International
• National Religious Campaign Against Torture
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Witness Against Torture
• Code Pink

When: Friday May 17, 12-1p.m.

Where: Washington D.C., outside the White House (Lafayette Square side)

Why: After 100 days of hunger strikes and more than 11 years of indefinite detention, it’s long past time for President Obama to get serious about closing Guantanamo.

“Amnesty International USA activists will be protesting outside the White House on Day 100 of the hunger strike to send the message that President Obama needs to close Guantanamo now,” said Jiva Manske, field organizer for Amnesty International USA, Mid-Atlantic, from Amnesty’s Washington, D.C. office, “The detainees’ situation must urgently be resolved, in a manner that respects their dignity and human rights. Death shouldn’t be the only way out of Guantanamo.”

“Years of detention without charge or trial have created a sense of desperation and hopelessness among the men at Guantanamo that has led over 100 to join a hunger strike,” said Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “The human crisis in Guantanamo is a moral one that needs to end immediately. The faith community calls on the President to close Guantanamo. It is the right thing to do.”

“The hunger strikers in Guantanamo have unleashed an avalanche of sympathy around the world, and disgust for the Obama administration’s policy,” explained Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. “It’s time for Obama—the commander-in-chief and the most powerful man in the world—to stop blaming Congress and muster the moral courage to close the prison and end this shameful chapter in U.S. history.”

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CONTACT: Gabe Cahn, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
gabe@rabinowitz-dorf.com, office: 202-265-3000, cell: 425-269-5541

Human Rights Groups Organize Vigil at White House to Mark 100th Day of Hunger Strike at Guantanamo
Activists in D.C. deliver more than 360,000 petition signatures, pressure Obama to keep his promise to close the detention facility

WASHINGTON – Today, on the 100th day of the hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, and amid growing pressure on the Obama Administration to close the facility once and for all, activists held a vigil outside the White House to bring awareness to the injustice of more than 11 years of unlawful and indefinite detention. Coalition events also were held in London, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit and London.

In addition to protesters in orange jumpsuits, speakers, and a social media storm, more than 360,000 petition signatures were delivered to President Obama, urging him to take the necessary actions to close Guantanamo. The cover letter and more information about the petitions can be found below.

The participants in the Day 100 Vigil called on President Obama to fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo and to:

• Move forward with transferring cleared detainees out of the detention facility under the certification process and waiver provision put in place by Congress
• Appoint a high level official in the White House to lead the effort to close the detention facility
• Make the case to Congress and the American people for removing the remaining transfer restrictions and closing the detention facility
• Ensure that all detainees are either charged and fairly tried in federal court, or released to countries that will respect their human rights

A non-partisan coalition of independent human rights and civil liberties organizations united during today’s gathering, including Amnesty International, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Center for Constitutional Rights and Witness Against Torture.

“Amnesty International USA activists protested outside the White House on Day 100 of the hunger strike to send the message that President Obama needs to close Guantanamo now,” said Jiva Manske, field organizer for Amnesty International USA, Mid-Atlantic, from Amnesty’s Washington, D.C. office. “The detainees’ situation must urgently be resolved, in a manner that respects their dignity and human rights. Death shouldn’t be the only way out of Guantanamo.”

As part of the national Day 100 Vigil for Guantanamo, the coalition called for all detainees either to be charged and fairly tried in federal court, or to be transferred to countries that will respect their human rights. The groups argued that both President Obama and Congress have an important role to play in meeting the U.S. government’s human rights obligations.

“Years of detention without charge or trial have created a sense of desperation and hopelessness among the men at Guantanamo that has led over 100 of them to join a hunger strike,” said Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “The human crisis in Guantanamo is a moral one that needs to end immediately. The faith community calls on the President to close Guantanamo. It is the right thing to do.”

Omar Farah, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, “As the hunger strike at Guantanamo passes its 100th day, my clients’ bodies are breaking down, but their resolve and spirit have never been stronger. When I met with Tariq Ba Odah on April 30, he told me: ‘We have nothing left to lose, but I have never seen such high morale in the prisoners. We will endure anything to be free.’ That same day, President Obama vowed again to close Guantanamo. Words are not enough. After 11 years of indefinite detention without charge or trial, Tariq and the others trapped at the prison cannot wait any longer. The president must use every tool at his disposal to release the prisoners he will not try in a fair court and finally shutter Guantanamo, once and for all. Every day he delays tempts an awful fate.”

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, added, “The hunger strikers in Guantanamo have unleashed an avalanche of sympathy around the world, and disgust for the Obama administration’s policy. It’s time for Obama—the commander-in-chief and the most powerful man in the world—to stop blaming Congress and muster the moral courage to close the prison and end this shameful chapter in U.S. history.”

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Petition Cover Letter
Amnesty International USA
5 Penn Plaza – 16th Floor
New York, NY 10001

May 17, 2013

President Obama,

On April 30, you recommitted to closing the Guantanamo detention facility.

Since then, over 360,000 people have signed the enclosed petitions calling on you to get the job done, including by:
• Immediately transferring those cleared to leave
• Appointing a high level White House official to lead the effort to close the detention facility
• Ensuring that all held at Guantanamo are released unless fairly tried in federal court
We, the undersigned, look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Col. Morris Davis (Ret.), former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay
Amnesty International USA
Coalition for an Ethical Psychology
Center for Constitutional Rights
CloseGuantanamo.org
CodePink
Colonel Morris Davis (Retired U.S. Air Force colonel and former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Defending Dissent Foundation
Interfaith Action for Human Rights
International Justice Network (IJN)
Massachusetts Campaign Against Torture (MACAT)
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
No More Guantanamos
Peace Action
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Torture Abolition & Survivor Support Coalition
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Veterans for Peace – Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Win Without War
Witness Against Torture
Women Against Military Madness (WAMM)

April 26:  With the US military now acknowledging 94 hunger strikers at Guantanamo, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-California; Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee) has called on President Obama to restart the transfers of prisoners “cleared for release” to their homelands or third countries and urged removing the blanket ban on the repatriation of Yemeni prisoners.  Responding to this dramatic development and the escalating hunger strike, US activists are intensifying their pressure on the Obama administration to resolve the hunger strike in a humane fashion and take decisive action toward closing the prison.

“At last,” says Frida Berrigan of Witness Against Torture, “leading voices in the US government are responding to the desperate pleas of starving men by calling for major policy changes that should have been made years ago.  The President re-starting transfers and working to remove terrible restrictions on the release of Yemeni and other prisoners is urgently needed start down the road of closing Guantanamo.  We need action now; otherwise, prisoners will die and the shame of a failed policy will only deepen.”

“Shaker Aamer, the sole UK citizen still at Guantanamo,” added Brian Hynes, “recently pleaded, ‘I hope I do not die in this awful place.  I want to hug my children.’  These words, from a man cleared for release 6 years ago, haunt me.  The United States is slowly killing men in a prison that should never have existed.”

Witness Against Torture, a group dedicated to closing Guantanamo, is organizing and participating in a series of actions in response to the hunger strike:

• Vigils at the White House every Friday from 12-1 pm.  This Friday, April 26, Col. Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, will speak in support of Senator Feinstein’s demands of President Obama.  In Chicago, activists vigil every Friday at 4:30pm (State & Jackson)

• Participation in a global fast, organized by “Save Shaker” in the UK, on Monday, April 29 demanding the immediate release to the UK of Shaker Aamer, the sole UK resident still at Guantanamo.

• A vigil in Times Square, NYC on Monday, April 29 from 4-5:30pm.

• A “rolling fast,” in which people across the United States fast for 24 hours in solidarity with the hunger strikers.  Begun three weeks ago, the rolling fast will continue until the hunger strike is over.  More than 200 people have participated in WAT fasts during the hunger strike.

• Daily calls to US Southern Command in Florida, which operates the prison.

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Press Release: April 22, 2013

Contact: Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119; jvaron@aol.com
Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424; daloisio@earthlink.net
Witness Against Torture: www.witnesstorture.org

Arrests at Federal Courthouse in NYC as
Hunger Strike at Guantanamo Widens

Click here for more photos.

New York City, April 22: Responding to reports that 84 men — more than half of those imprisoned at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay — are hunger striking to protest their indefinite detention, 12 concerned citizens with Witness Against Torture were arrested at approximately 3pm in a “die-in” on the steps of the Federal Courthouse at Manhattan’s Foley Square (40 Centre Street).

Those arrested, some in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, held signs with names of the men who have already died under US custody at the prison. Fearing that more prisoners could die soon, the protesters are demanding that immediate measures be taken by the Obama administration to close the prison.

The hunger strike, begun on February 6, has reached dire proportions. Following a raid by guards of one of the prison sections (“Camp 6”) on April 13, inmates were newly thrown into solitary confinement and examined by medical staff. As a result, the number of those acknowledged as hunger striking by the US military has sharply climbed. Sixteen of the men are
being force fed — a painful practice condemned by human rights organizations and described in testimony from Samir Mukbei published in the New York Times on April 14. More than half of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo, including some of the hunger strikers, have been “cleared for
release” by US authorities.

“The hunger strike,” says Jeremy Varon, an organizer with Witness Against Torture, “is the predictable result of a failed policy of indefinite detention that is morally unacceptable and politically unsustainable. If action is not taken to change that policy, more prisoners will die and our nation’s shame will deepen.”

“I took part in the protest at the Federal Court,” says North Carolina resident Beth Brockman, “because justice is broken when men who our government has no plans to charge or put on trial no harm are held for years.”

“Shaker Aamer, the sole UK citizen still at Guantanamo,” added protestor Brian Hynes, “recently pleaded, ‘I hope I do not die in this awful place. I want to hug my children.’ These words, from a man cleared for release 6 years ago, haunt me. The United States is slowly killing men in a prison that should never have existed. This nightmare must end.”

Since the hunger strike began, Witness Against Torture has been holding vigils and rallies throughout the country, calling the White House and US military, and sending letters to the detained men. Following a 7 day fast in late March, it has organized a “rolling fast” that will continue as long as the hunger strike does, in which more than 100 people nationwide have participated.

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As Hunger Strike Enters Third Month 25 Prominent Human Rights Organizations Pen Letter to Obama Urging Swift Closure of Guantánamo

April 11, 2013, New York and Washington, D.C. – Today, 25 prominent human rights and civil liberties organizations sent a joint letter to President Obama urging the swift closure of Guantánamo and steps to end the hunger strike legally and humanely and end more than 11 years of indefinite detention. The organizations include the Center for Constitutional Rights, American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Center for Victims of Torture, CEJIL, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, National Lawyers Guild, and Physicians for Human Rights. Today also marked a national emergency day of action to close Guantánamo, with events planned by several of the groups in 26 cities and 19 states.

Said Center for Constitutional Rights Legal Director Baher Azmy, “President Obama has promised to close Guantánamo repeatedly, but his failure has demoralized the men, who are in their 11th year of indefinite detention, to the point that they are risking their health and their lives.  He must use the power given to him under the NDAA to begin the process of transferring the 86 cleared men out of the prison today and completing a just closure of Guantánamo.”

Today’s letter reads in part,

We urge you to order the relevant authorities to take swift measures to humanely and lawfully address the immediate causes of the hunger strike in a manner consistent with international standards of medical ethics before irreparable harm occurs to the prisoners. Moreover, we urge you to take steps to address the root of the problem by fulfilling your promise to close Guantánamo without further delay. To that end, we ask that you:

1) Direct Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel to use his authority to issue the certifications or national security waivers required by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2013) to effect transfers from Guantánamo.

2) Appoint an individual within your Administration to lead the effort to close Guantánamo.

The complete letter and list of signatories can be found here.

Experts available to discuss the letter include:

Pardiss Kebriaei, Senior Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights

Chris Anders, Senior Legislative Counsel, ACLU

Melina Milazzo, Senior Policy Counsel, Center for Victims of Torture

Daphne Eviatar, Senior Counsel, Human Rights First

Laura Pitter, Human Rights Watch

CONTACT:

Jeremy Varon, Witness Against Torture, jvaron@aol.com, 732.979.3119

Chris Knestrick, Witness Against Torture Chicago, cknest11@gmail.com, 216.496.2637

Malachy Kilbride, Witness Against Torture DC, malachykilbride@yahoo.com, 571.501.3729

Jen Nessel, Center for Constitutional Rights, press@ccrjustice.org, 212-614-6449

Gabe Cahn, Amnesty International, gabe@rabinowitz-dorf.com, 202-265-3000, cell: 425-269-5541

As Guantánamo Hunger Strike Continues, Activists Rally Nationwide for “Day of Action to Close Guantánamo & End Indefinite Detention”

Protests in D.C., NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Over 26 Cities Pressure Obama to Close the Prison

April 11, 2013, New York and Washington, D.C. – As the hunger strike of men detained at the U.S. prison at Guantánamo began its third month, activists organized emergency rallies in over 26 cities and 19 states across the United States for a national “Day of Action to Close Guantánamo & End Indefinite Detention.”  From New York City to San Francisco, Durham to Los Angeles, Witness Against Torture, Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, World Can’t Wait, and other groups demanded the closure of Guantánamo. The actions came on a day that 25 prominent human rights and civil liberties organizations sent a joint letter to President Obama urging the closure of Guantánamo. <!–more–>

Said organizers of the protests, “The vast majority of the 166 men still trapped at Guantánamo have been held for more than 11 years without charge or fair trial. The Obama administration must take swift measures to humanely address the immediate causes of the hunger strike and fulfill its promise to close the Guantánamo detention facility.”

The coalition urged President Obama to fulfill his promise to close Guantánamo and called on him to:

·         Direct Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel to use his authority to issue the certifications or national security waivers required by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA 2013) to effect transfers from Guantánamo;

·         Appoint an individual within the White House to lead the effort to close Guantánamo;

·         Make the case to Congress and the American people for removing the remaining transfer restrictions and closing the detention facility;  and

·         Ensure that all detained men are either charged and fairly tried in criminal court, or released to countries that will respect their human rights.

Demonstrations took place across the country, all accompanied by activists dressed in orange jumpsuits to represent the men detained at Guantánamo. In Washington, D.C., activists and speakers, including Pratap Chaterjee from the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA, rallied in front of the White House. In New York, activists rallied in Times Square where speakers included Pardiss Kebriaei, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who just returned from visiting clients detained at Guantánamo, and Rachel Ward, Director of US Programs for Amnesty International USA.

Pardiss Kebriaei, Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Attorney, said, “I have just returned from visiting my clients at Guantánamo, and the situation there is dire. The immediate emergency, triggered by searches of the men’s Qur’ans, never should have happened given the long history of Qur’an desecration and religious abuse at the prison. But there is another emergency that is about the indefinite detention of men who will never be charged, more than half of whom have been approved for transfer. One of my clients said to me, ‘The silence of the government is what is killing us.’ It should not take another man dying for the Obama administration to realize that it cannot afford to continue wasting time by laying blame on Congress and justifying its own inaction in closing the prison. If ever there were a time to act, it is now.”

Zeke Johnson, Director of Amnesty International USA’s Security with Human Rights Campaign, said, “Death shouldn’t be the only way out of Guantánamo. The men must either be charged and fairly tried in federal court, or be released.”  In response to the hunger strikes he added, “There are even detainees cleared to leave that remain stuck in limbo – people like Shaker Aamer, cleared under both President Bush and President Obama, and whom the UK government wants released. It’s time for President Obama to get serious about closing the detention facility. Even with the Congressional restrictions on transfers, detainees can still be moved out under the certification process and the waiver provision that Congress put in place.”

Jeremy Varon, of Witness Against Torture, said: “The hunger strike at Guantánamo is the latest, tragic reminder that Guantánamo must close. Keeping men there indefinitely without charge or trial, even when they are deemed no threat by the US government itself is morally unacceptable and politically unsustainable. The Guantánamo nightmare must end now.”

For a complete list of the day’s events, see www.witnesstorture.org/events.

To learn more about the hunger strike, see http://bit.ly/GTMOHungerStrikeAction.

Contact: Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119, jvaron@aol.com; Christopher Knestrick, 216-496-2637, cknest11@gmail.com

On Sunday, March 24 human rights activists throughout the United States began a seven day fast and series of actions in solidarity with the men currently on hunger strike at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Dozens of men, according to detainee lawyers, are entering their seventh week of a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention and a new wave of alleged abuses. The U.S. Navy now reports that three hunger strikers have been hospitalized and that ten are being force fed — a practice condemned by human rights organizations and used in efforts to “break” prior hunger strikes at Guantanamo. Attorneys also report that some hunger strikers have lost consciousness and are experiencing severe drops in body weight.

Already, Witness Against Torture (WAT) has demonstrated in locations large and small —from New York City, to Chicago, to Perrysburg, Ohio. At least 80 people nationwide are participating in the fast, with more joining each day. Activists are also writing letters to the detainees and reaching out to the White House, U.S. Southern Command and the Department of Defense with newly urgent calls that the notorious prison close.

In New York City on Sunday, Witness Against Torture created dramatic images in front of the Times Square military recruiting station, juxtaposing the iconic orange clad, black hooded figures with the advertisements for the Navy and Marines.

“It is tragic,” says New York City WAT organizer Jeremy Varon, “that the men at Guantanamo should have to risk death through hunger to protest the denial of their basic rights. The hunger strike signals the colossal failure of the Obama administration, which promised to close Guantanamo, and of Congress, which has placed enormous barriers to ever shuttering the prison. If the hunger strikers start dying, we know where the blame for their deaths lies.”

In Chicago, protestors gathered on Sunday in front of President Obama’s private home, reading the names of all 166 men still held at Guantanamo. Pat Bronte, an attorney for several detainees in Guantanamo, told the protesters how much it means to them to know that Americans are standing with them in their pursuit of justice.

Chicago’s Jerica Arents, a teacher at DePaul University, says, “Participating in the fast serves as a physical reminder to me that there are men languishing in Guantanamo, refusing food because it is the only means they have to protest their indefinite detention.”

“More than four years after President Obama promised to close Guantanamo,” says WAT organizer Frida Berrigan, “the U.S. government is investing tens of millions of new dollars in the prison facility. I can understand why the detained men feel so helpless about ever leaving Guantanamo and being reunited with their families. We have not forgotten them, and continue our struggle to close the prison.”

Actions in New York, Illinois, California, Connecticut, Ohio, and other locations will continue throughout the week and can be viewed at www.witnesstorture.org/events/

166 men remain imprisoned at Guantanamo. 86 have been cleared for release. All are subject to indefinite detention and held at a cost to U.S taxpayers of $800,000 per year per man.
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Witness Against Torture formed in 2005 when 25 Americans went to Guantanamo Bay to protest the detention facility. Since then, the group has organized vigils, marches, nonviolent direct actions, and educational events calling for the closure of Guantanamo, an end to U.S. torture, accountability for the torturers, and justice for the victims.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thirty-five members of Witness Against Torture were arrested in front of the White House on Thursday, January 12 around three this afternoon. Dressed in the iconic Guantánamo orange jumpsuits and black hoods and accompanied by a cage representing indefinite detention, the activists were warned to clear the sidewalk by National Park Police or risk arrest. After occupying the sidewalk for more than three hours, they were arrested one by one.

“We came to the White House because just eleven days ago, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act. It is dead wrong,” says Leah Grady Sayvetz, an activist and college student form Ithaca, New York arrested this afternoon. “The NDAA makes Guantánamo near-permanent and expands detention powers just when this terrible and immoral detention apparatus should be being dismantled.”

The activists held signs that said: “NDAA is Guantánamo Forever,” NDAA is Guantánamo Come Home,” “Shut Down Guantánamo,” “Shut Down Bagram,” “Release Those Unjustly Bound” and pulled a full-size cage up on the side walk.

Witness Against Torture took the cage to the White House on Saturday, January 7 and began a twenty-four hour a day vigil that ended on January 11 at the end of the Ten Years Too Many National Day of Action to Shut Down Guantánamo.

Witness Against Torture, a grassroots movement to shut down Guantánamo, is completing a ten day “Hungering for Justice” liquids-only fast today. About one hundred people—in Washington, D.C. and around the country—participated in the fast and engaged in daily actions in front of the White House, and elsewhere to call attention to the terrible injustice that is Guantánamo, Bagram, and secret prisons.

witnesstorture.org

Press Contacts

Matthew Daloisio, 201-264-4424
Beth Brockman, 919-824-9283
Brian Terrell, 773-853-1886

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The specter of an orange clad, black hooded human being cowering behind iron bars is drawing a lot of attention at the White House this week. On Saturday, January 7, members of Witness Against Torture carried a reproduction of a Guantánamo cell over barricades surrounding Lafayette Park and deployed it in front of the White House.

“We plan on being here, in the cage, twenty-four hours a day, until January 11,” said Beth Brockman, a human rights advocate and mother of two from Durham, North Carolina. “We have dubbed January 11 a Day of National Shame. Ten years ago on this date, the first plane load of twenty men arrived at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. And this new architecture of torture, abuse and indefinite detention that is now known as GITMO began. We are here– as we have been for the last six years– to say no with our voices, our bodies and our hearts.”

The 92-hour vigil in front of the White House comes little over a week after President Barak Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which essentially makes Guantánamo permanent by barring the transfer of detainees to the United States, severely restricting transfer to third-party countries, and potentially grants the Executive the power to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens.

“President Barack Obama promised to shut down Guantánamo within a year almost three years. His signature on the NDAA annihilates that already faded promise,” says Brian Terrell, a human rights advocate from Maloy, Iowa. “Three years later, 171 Muslim men still remain in indefinite detention at Guantánamo. Ironically, most have been cleared for release and should be free to go. But they remain behind bars. We want to remind the President and people who visit the White House of Obama’s Guantánamo and Bagram detention regimes. It is easy to forget that Bagram held 600 prisoners when Obama took office. It now holds 3,000 and is being enlarged to hold more than 5,000,” Terrell concluded.

Witness Against Torture, a grassroots movement to shut down Guantánamo, initiated the “Hungering for Justice” liquids-only fast on January 2 and will break it ten days later on Thursday, January 12. About one hundred people—in DC and around the country– are participating in the fast and engaging in daily actions in front of the White House, and elsewhere to call attention to the terrible injustice that is Guantanamo, Bagram, and secret prisons.

The campaign will culminate in a “Ten Years Too Many: National Day of Action to Shut Down Guantánamo” mass mobilization at noon on Wednesday, January 11 in Lafayette Park, across from the White House. The protest is organized by a coalition of groups that includes Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Last week, four Witness Against Torture activists were found guilty of “unlawful conduct” and “disruption of Congress” stemming from an anti-torture action in June 2011 at the House of Representatives. Charges against another nine activists were dropped and one was acquitted.

witnesstorture.org

Press Contacts

Matthew Daloisio, 201-264-4424
Beth Brockman, 919-824-9283
Brian Terrell, 773-853-1886