Day 106 of the Guantanamo Hunger Strike 

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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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 17, 2013

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.
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Day 96 of the Guantanamo Hunger Strike  

Dear Friends: The Peace Poets and Witness Against Torture have collaborated on a Hunger Strike Video that WE NEED YOUR HELP posting, sharing & promoting.  If you are on Facebook, please share directly from the Witness Against Torture Page (& ‘like’ the page if you haven’t already).

Friday, May 17marks the 100th day of the Guantanamo Hunger Strike.  A coalition has formed to hold International Days of Action against Guantanamo from May 17-19.

Hunger Strike Song Performance in Times Square!
It’s time to sing our hearts out for Justice!  Join us on Friday, May 17, 5pm in Times Sqaure b’twn 43rd and 44th to do a mass sing along of the Hunger Strike Song.  Come and join and raise the volume of the people’s voice demanding an end to torture and indefinite detention.

Fast for Justice
Choose May 17, 18 or 19 to participate in a one-day solidarity fast, and let us know that you are participating.  May 17 Global call-in action: Call the White House or the US embassy in your country.  The White House comment line number is 202.456.1111

White House Protest, Petition Delivery, an Nonviolent Resistance: May 17, 12-1pm
We are combining the various petitions (over 300,000 signatures!) calling for Guantanamo to close into one package, and organizations are signing onto a cover letter that highlights the demands of immediately transferring those cleared to leave, appointing a high level White House official to lead the effort to close the detention facility, and ensuring that all held at Guantanamo are released unless fairly tried in federal court.  Please sign this petition if you haven’t already, and if you are a member of an organization or group that would like to sign onto the cover letter, let us know.  ***To underscore the urgency of the situation in Guantanamo, there will be a group willing to participate in nonviolent civil resistance on May 17 as well.  Let us know if you are interested in participating.
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While the seven day fast has ended– after generating powerful vigils and visuals, over 500 letters to the prisoners, 100s of phone calls, many press interviews, and a growth in numbers and commitment within our community –  we feel compelled to continue a form of fasting in solidarity with those on hunger strike at Guantánamo.  Therefore, in addition to our April 11th National Day of Action, Witness Against Torture is coordinating a “rolling fast” for the duration of the hunger strike.
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Protests in DC, Chicago, NY – April 29 Global Fast to “Save Shaker” – Calls to SouthCom – Rolling Fast

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.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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).
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Dear Friends:

This is perhaps the most important (and devastating) article about Guantanamo in quite some time.  Please take a moment to read.  And share.  And act. (see links at bottom)

Gitmo Is Killing Me

By SAMIR NAJI al HASAN MOQBEL

Published: April 14, 2013 

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba

ONE man here weighs just 77 pounds. Another, 98. Last thing I knew, I weighed 132, but that was a month ago.

I’ve been on a hunger strike since Feb. 10 and have lost well over 30 pounds. I will not eat until they restore my dignity.

I’ve been detained at Guantánamo for 11 years and three months. I have never been charged with any crime. I have never received a trial.

I could have been home years ago — no one seriously thinks I am a threat — but still I am here. Years ago the military said I was a “guard” for Osama bin Laden, but this was nonsense, like something out of the American movies I used to watch. They don’t even seem to believe it anymore. But they don’t seem to care how long I sit here, either.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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–>
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Contact: Jen Nessel, Center for Constitutional Rights, +1.212.614.6449, press@ccrjustice.org
Matthew Harwood, American Civil Liberties Union, +1.202.715.0834, media@dcaclu.org
Brad Robideau, Center for Victims of Torture, +1.612.436.4886, brobideau@cvt.org
Brenda Bowser Soder, Human Rights First, 202.370.3323, bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org

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.
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