Category: News

Resisting Hell on Earth: Hunger Strike at Guantánamo

News // Film

The facts are stark. More than 100 men on a new hunger strike at Guantánamo, now in its fifth week.

The context is heartbreaking. More than half of the 166 men at Guantánamo have been “Cleared for Release” by U.S. authorities. Not charged with any crime of terrorism or violence, they linger in the prison because of the Obama administration’s and Congress’s callous disregard for their basic legal and human rights.   All inmates at Guantánamo — subjected to routine indignities and abuses — are waiting for real justice: their release when innocent or the chance to plead their case in a legitimate court of law.
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Video: 2013 Actions in DC

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film


You can now watch video from two of our biggest anti-torture actions in Washington, DC this year. The first one shows members of WAT tying 166 ribbons made from shredded orange jumpsuits to the White House fence, and the second one shows our projection of the message “torture is wrong” outside a screening of Zero Dark Thirty.
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4 Things We Can Do in 2013 to Close Guantánamo

News // Film

2013 has been a busy year at Amnesty already. From protesting torture at the Washington, DC premiere of the film Zero Dark Thirty to people across the US and around the world spending January 11 (the 11th anniversary of “war on terror” detainees arriving at Guantanamo) marching against the continued human rights violations being committed by the US government, we have some real momentum to start the new year.

We still don’t have the outcome we all want — President Obama hasn’t ended human rights violations and hasn’t kept his long-standing promise to close Guantanamo prison. But we are making progress. We know it will be a long fight, but history shows that change can happen through sustained activism. Just last week the infamous Tamms “supermax” prison in Illinois closed after years of campaigning. Guantanamo will be next!

We can’t do it without you. Here are 4 things we can do to close Guantanamo and promote human rights in 2013.

Read the full article on Amnesty International’s web site.

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Fast for Justice 2013: Day 7

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film

Dear Friends,

We hope you all enjoyed a nourishing meal today and are feeling renewed. For those of us in D.C., the breaking of the fast followed a vigil at the CIA organized by a local chapter of Pax Christi and others. This was WAT’s second time bringing the presence of jumpsuit and hood to the CIA and many were pleasantly surprised by the favorable response of those passing by. Not far from the CIA, a very different organization welcomed us. With weary bodies and growling stomachs we stumbled over to the Langley Hill Friends Community for a sumptuous pot-luck style fast-breaking meal.
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Fast for Justice 2013: Day 6

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film

*small disclaimer: it is late/early, and six days into the fast. please forgive our fasting brains if we do not make complete sentences… or sense!

Dear Friends,

Chantal, Jerica and Amy brought folks together this morning with a rousing version of “Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom.” We gathered today to prepare to mark the eleventh anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Our mood was both somber and ready – there was much work to do: speeches, a long procession, the risk of arrest at the White House. And to gather courage for a long day ahead, we reflected on the following words of Fr. Daniel Berrigan:
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Fast for Justice 2013: Day 5

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film

Dear Friends,

Early this morning, a small group of fasters reflected on the daily scripture readings from the Catholic lectionary. Frank commented that he was seeing a connection between these readings and Chrissy’s sharing yesterday about the integration of the micro and macro.  We have a political agenda, he said, but we begin with coming together, taking care of each other; we identify with the humanity of individual detainees and of others who are oppressed, and that is what drives us.

Gathering together with the larger group for the day’s opening circle, Luke led us in a poetic reflection that demonstrated how the personal can indeed influence and integrate with the political when what we love moves us to action.  “What I have to say is basically a series of questions,” he said, and this is what followed:
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Fast for Justice 2013: Day 4

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film

Dear Friends,

Brian Hynes from New York will be happy to know that this year we have recreated his “Plato Meter” – a clever system of gauging (mimetically, not ideally) how far we have come in our fast and how far we have yet to go. In short, in the corner of the main room there is a table with two stacks of dinner plates. For each potential meal during the day, we pass one plate from the larger stack on the right over to the ever-growing stack on the left. Friends, yes indeed, today we have passed the halfway mark!
Continue reading Fast for Justice 2013: Day 4

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