Witness Against Torture Staff, Author at Witness Against Torture

As Men at Guantánamo Hunger Strike, Human Rights Activists Respond with Fast and Demonstrations

Hunger Strike Response // Film

For Immediate Release: March 26, 2013
Witness Against Torture (www.witnesstorture.org)

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.
Continue reading As Men at Guantánamo Hunger Strike, Human Rights Activists Respond with Fast and Demonstrations

Hunger Strike – Emergency Response

News // Film

We will gather for action in New York City, Chicago, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Des Moines, Western Massachusetts, and other cities domestically and internationally next week to denounce the barbaric practice of torture and indefinite detention and to demand justice for the men at Guantanamo.
Continue reading Hunger Strike – Emergency Response

Wednesday, March 20th, 6:30 pm – Vigil for Detainees

News // Film

Wednesday, March 20th, 6:30 pm – Vigil for the Guantanamo Detainees – on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war this week, we will gather at The White House to pray, remember and speak for our Muslim brothers in Guantanamo, many of whom have been cleared for release but have still not been released due to restrictions our government has subsequently placed on where they can be released and under what conditions. A number of them, having little hope left, are currently undertaking a hunger strike at Guantanamo. (see news articles below)

We will meet in front of the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Please join us if you can.
Sponsored by Witness Against Torture.

Contact: Malachy Kilbride via email or phone: 571-501-3729

Statement from the Center for Constitutional Rights

Guantanamo Hunger Strike “Potentially Life-Threatening,” Attorneys Allege in Letter to Prison Officials

Gitmo Hunger Strike: ‘Prisoners put their lives on the line in a medieval torture chamber’

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.
Continue reading Resisting Hell on Earth: Hunger Strike at Guantánamo

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.
Continue reading Fast for Justice 2013: Day 7

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:
Continue reading Fast for Justice 2013: Day 6

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:
Continue reading Fast for Justice 2013: Day 5

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

Fast for Justice 2013: Day 3

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film

Dear Friends,

Beth B. opened our first circle of the day reminding us to take care of ourselves during this fast that challenges our bodies and our spirits. “In taking care of ourselves, we take care of the rest of the world. Our own suffering is linked to the suffering of all. Our own liberation is linked to the liberation of all.” Her words encouraged us not only to self-care, but to remembering again the interconnectedness of all lives. And her words were echoed in the lines of a poem by Abdulla Majid al Noaimi, “The tears of someone else’s longing are affecting me; my chest cannot take the vastness of emotion.” So we were reminded too of the suffering that can arise from connection, and from connections severed, as the two poems by detainees that we read over the course of the day speak of longing for loved ones far away:
Continue reading Fast for Justice 2013: Day 3

Fast for Justice 2013: Day 2

Fast for Justice 2013 // Film

Dear Friends,

Today is the second day of our fast, our first full day without food. We began the day early, rising to be at the Pentagon when the morning shift came in to work. The Pentagon was the first of three vigils today. After coming back for some rest and some reflection on our time together, we went out for a second time — this time to the White House. We processed as far as we could around the perimeter of the White House grounds, weaving in between recently erected fences that surround the grandstands, bleachers, and viewing stands that are being set up for the inauguration.
Continue reading Fast for Justice 2013: Day 2