From the Archive

Fast & Pray in Solidarity With WAT in Cuba

Solidarity of Hearts Rolling Fast With WAT Activists in Cuba

As people in the United States enjoy Thanksgiving with their families, 14 human rights activists with Witness Against Torture are in Cuba protesting the ongoing operation of the US prison at Guantánamo Bay.  At an encampment outside the base, the delegation demands that the prison close and that it not simply be moved to North America by holding men without charge or trial in federal prisons.  The group returns November 30 from Guantánamo to Havana, where it will request a meeting with the US ambassador.

On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26), the delegation will hold a vigil outside the base under the banner “Forced-Feeding, Not Feasting at Guantánamo.”  The vigil highlights the continued forced-feeding of hunger striking prisoners, as well as the separation of the detained men from their families.  The US activists are fasting in solidarity with the prisoners.

While our brothers and sisters make their way to Cuba, we at home and abroad will be making a corresponding inner journey, accompanying the travelers through prayer, meditation, and fasting around the clock.  We have the opportunity to come together from our wide diversity of faith and spiritual traditions to add depth, strength, and resonance to the plea that Guantánamo be closed, that torture and indefinite detention cease, that the police terror being waged in the streets against poor communities and communities of color across the US stop, and that truth, peace, and justice prevail both in the US and abroad.

We would like to invite you to participate in a pilgrimage of prayer, meditation and fasting through December 1.

We ask folks who sign up to fast in any form they like for 24 hours on the date they sign up on.  Please use the form below to sign up to join the rolling fast.

Prayer Chain

Recognizing that there are many ways to pray, we invite you to join in prayer in whichever way you like for an hour at your choice of time/s and day/s between November 21 and December 1.

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