From the Archive

March Newsletter

Dear Friends,

We did not plan for this newsletter to go out on such a news heavy day. Our hearts and prayers remain with all victims of violence. As the media uses the attacks in Bruxelles, Ankara, Istanbul and Abidjan, to scapegoat the muslim community, we hope that we can offer these alternative perspectives. We need to remind ourselves that Islamophobia is dangerous. It is at the foundation of Guantanamo Bay Prison’s existence and the fuel that carries the violence we see today. We continue to offer our love and support to our muslims sisters and brothers who will be targeted by violence fostered by hate speech. The work to dismantle racism and  xenophobia should be our call.

Responses to the President’s Plan to Close Guantanamo

Human rights groups around the world responded to President’s Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo – many finding it wanting insufficient, and dangerous. (You can read WAT’s response here.) Furthermore, as President Obama visits Cuba, we would like to share with you two powerful pieces challenging his plan which are written by two members of Witness Against Torture. First, Dr. Maha Hilal’s response challenges the normative rhetoric that continues to surround the prison and War on Terror. The article is entitled The Stories We Tell: Guantanamo Bay In Normative American History And The Present. (Please read and distribute)

A conference hosted by Human Rights First “promised to provide the inside scoop on how Obama is going to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and what the key roadblocks might be” The presenters were people that had worked closely with the Obama administration such as the Pentagon’s Paul Lewis, the State Department’s Lee Wolosky and their predecessor, Clifford Sloan. WAT’s own Helen Schietinger attended the conference and wrote about the experience in an article entitled, The Catch-22 of Closing Gitmo. She closes her thoughts by writing, “Too many remain silent regarding the fact that Obama’s plan not only perpetuates but strengthens the mechanisms by which basic Constitutional protections are being circumvented.”

The Duka Brothers, Islamophobia, and the Political Utility of Fear.

During the Fast for Justice members of Witness Against Torture traveled to Camden, New Jersey to stand with the Duka brothers. These three Albanian-American men who are now serving life sentences for a crime they never heard of and never participated in. In 2008, they were found guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorism and other charges. “Yet, the whole plan was conceived and planned by two FBI paid informants and preemptively prosecuted by the legal system. Ultimately, these three Muslim men from a working-class family in Cherry Hill, New Jersey became victims of the post-9/11 counterterrorism frenzy that engulfed the United States.”

In January, they were given a rare hearing to present a motion for retrial based on incompetent representation. WAT members, Frida Berrigan and Chris Knestrick, wrote an article based on that experience entitled, Can the Fort Dix 5 channel the power of the Camden 28? The article reflects on the political utility of fear and the fact that the courtroom that found the Duka brothers guilty in 2008 was the same courtroom that found the Camden 28 innocent in 1973.

You are Invited: WAT Retreat and Planning Session: April 1- 3, 2016

Join us for our annual WAT retreat and planning weekend in Cleveland, Ohio. Every spring, we gather to reflect on the year’s work and plan how to continue moving forward. Please consider joining us as we build together. The retreat starts on Friday, April 1st @ 3pm and ends on Sunday, April 3rd @ 12:30 pm. There is simple housing available for those that are coming.  Please RSVP by March 25th to witnesstorture@gmail.com.

Witness Against Torture on Social Media:

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Post any pictures of your local activities to our Flickr account and we will help spread the word.

Donate to support our work:

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: www.witnesstorture.org.
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Witness Against Torture
www.witnesstorture.org
@witnesstorture

Witness Against Torture will carry on in its activities until torture is decisively ended, its victims are fully acknowledged, Guantánamo and similar facilities are closed, and those who ordered and committed torture are held to account.