Hunger Strike – Day 106 Update

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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

======================

No More Excuses – Anti-Guantanamo Activists Demand that President Obama Make Good on Promise to Restart Transfers and Close Guantanamo; Vow to Keep Pressure on President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAY 23, 2103

Contacts: Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424, daloisio@riseup.net

Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119, jvaron@aol.com

New York City/Washington, D.C. – Responding to the hunger strike at Guantanamo, President Obama announced in a speech today his wish to re-start the transfer of men from Guantanamo and for the closure of the US prison.  Anti-Guantanamo activists insist that the speech be followed by concrete steps — including the immediate transfer of men from the prison — to show that the Obama administration is serious.  86 men have been cleared for transfer and must be released now.

We agree with President Obama that “GTMO has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.”  The President must use his executive power and political leadership to at last close Guantanamo and end indefinite detention.  He must renounce the unprecedented, illegitimate, and increasingly discredited Military Commissions as an unacceptable substitute for true due process; and he must reject any policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial, and commit to bring credible suspects within a proper judicial system.  We applaud the courageous interruption of Obama’s speech, which underscores the emergency situation at the prison, and need for rapid closure of Guantanamo.

“It should not take men starving themselves to have President Obama stand up for the Constitution and human rights.” Says Matthew W. Daloisio, organizer with Witness Against Torture.  “We are more 11 years into the crime of Guantánamo and over 100 days into the current hunger strike.  The promise to transfer those cleared is important, but without immediate steps to release actual people, it is only another promise.”

“We have heard noble sentiments before from President Obama,” added Jeremy Varon of Witness Against Torture. “We will hold him to account.  It is not enough to release those who should have been released years ago.  Indefinite detention must end.  And the rule of law will never be fulfilled in Military Commissions.  Moving Guantanamo is not closing Guantanamo.    All held in the prison must be charged, tried in legitimate courts, or released.  We’ll be in the streets, at the steps of courthouses, in jail if necessary to make sure that Guantanamo closes.”

President Obama ended the Guantanamo portion of his speech today by asking the American people to “look at the current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are holding a hunger strike. Is that who we are? Is that something that our Founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?”

We may wish that this is not who we are.  But we will be judged by our actions, not our speeches.

Witness Against Torture and other groups will continue their vigils, rallies, solidarity fasts, calls to the White House, and direct actions until Guantanamo is shuttered.

Since the hunger strike began in early February, Witness Against Torture has held vigils in more than 30 cities and towns, had regular rallies at the White House, circulated a Change.org petition — signed by more than 210,000 people — demanding the closure of Guantanamo, helped organize a briefing for Congressional staff; coordinated a rolling fast in solidarity with the Hunger Strike and daily calls to the White House, Pentagon and the US Southern Command; and committed acts of civil disobedience.

###

======================

CONGRESSIONAL OUTREACH
Please call or e-mail your congressperson to ask them to sign on to Rep. Jim Moran’s (D-VA) ‘Dear Colleague’ letter to President Obama.  Send us a note if you would like a copy of the letter itself.

======================

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE ROLLING FAST
Give up food for a day
 as part of Witness Against Torture’s ROLLING FAST.  Over 200 people have participated by fasting for some period of time since the Guantanamo Hunger Strike began.  Sign up for one day, or more.  Sign up as a community or as an office!  Download and send this letter to a man detained in Guantánamo.  The men on Hunger Strike know of, and very much appreciate our collective efforts at solidarity.

======================

HUNGER STRIKE SONG!

The Peace Poets, Witness Against Torture, and anti-mass incarceration activists have collaborated on The Hunger Strike Song. (PLEASE POST AND SHARE)

We will continue to gather for vigils, street theatre, song and action in NYC, including this Friday, May 24th in Washington Square Park (5:30pm), and next week for as part of a week of actions.  More information on weekly vigils in Chicago, Washington DC, and other locations can be found on our website.

======================

PHONE CALLS & LETTER WRITING

We have generated 100s of calls since the Hunger Strike began.  We are particularly focusing on calls to the U.S. Southern Command (where you will be able to speak to a person), but ask folks to call all of the numbers here:  Call the White House (202-456-1111, 202-456-1414), U.S. Southern Command (305-437-1213) and Department of Defense (703-571-3343) to express concern over the hunger strike and insist on Guantanamo’s closing.

======================

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE SOCIAL MEDIA

Our Facebook page has been getting more and more traffic, and some weeks has reached over 200,000 people.  This is only possible when people like, share, and comment on posts.  Please ‘like’ us on
Facebook
 & Follow Us on Twitter

Post any pictures of your local activities to Flickr, and we will help spread the word on Tumblr.

======================

DONATE

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.

======================

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

Media Advistory: Activists to Mark Day 100 of Guantanamo Hunger Strike on Friday

Hunger Strike Response // Film

MEDIA ADVISORY: May 15, 2013

CONTACT: Gabe Cahn, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
gabe@rabinowitz-dorf.com, office: 202-265-3000, cell: 425-269-5541

FRIDAY, MAY 17 at White House: Day 100 Vigil for Guantanamo Hunger Strike
Coalition of activists to rally, deliver 300,000 petitions to pressure Obama to close Guantanamo

WASHINGTON – To mark the 100th day of the mass hunger strike at Guantanamo, a coalition of human rights activists will hold a vigil in front of the White House on Friday, May 17. In addition to public speakers and protestors in orange jumpsuits bringing attention to human rights violations and indefinite detention at the detention center at Guantanamo, the groups will deliver 300,000 petition signatures calling for the detention facility to be closed down. On April 30, President Obama recommitted himself and his administration to shutting down Guantanamo. On Friday, the detainee hunger strike will have breached the 100 day mark.

What: Day 100 Vigil urging President Obama to fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo. Speakers and activists in orange jumpsuits will call on President Obama to:

– Move forward with transferring cleared detainees out of the detention facility under the certification process and waiver provision put in place by Congress
– Appoint a high level position in the White House to lead the effort of closing the detention facility
– Make the case to Congress and the American people for removing the remaining transfer restrictions and closing the detention facility
– Ensure that all detainees are either charged and fairly tried in federal court, or released to countries that will respect their human rights

Who: A non-partisan coalition of human rights and civil liberties organizations, including:
• Amnesty International
• National Religious Campaign Against Torture
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Witness Against Torture
• Code Pink

When: Friday May 17, 12-1p.m.

Where: Washington D.C., outside the White House (Lafayette Square side)

Why: After 100 days of hunger strikes and more than 11 years of indefinite detention, it’s long past time for President Obama to get serious about closing Guantanamo.

“Amnesty International USA activists will be protesting outside the White House on Day 100 of the hunger strike to send the message that President Obama needs to close Guantanamo now,” said Jiva Manske, field organizer for Amnesty International USA, Mid-Atlantic, from Amnesty’s Washington, D.C. office, “The detainees’ situation must urgently be resolved, in a manner that respects their dignity and human rights. Death shouldn’t be the only way out of Guantanamo.”

“Years of detention without charge or trial have created a sense of desperation and hopelessness among the men at Guantanamo that has led over 100 to join a hunger strike,” said Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “The human crisis in Guantanamo is a moral one that needs to end immediately. The faith community calls on the President to close Guantanamo. It is the right thing to do.”

“The hunger strikers in Guantanamo have unleashed an avalanche of sympathy around the world, and disgust for the Obama administration’s policy,” explained Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. “It’s time for Obama—the commander-in-chief and the most powerful man in the world—to stop blaming Congress and muster the moral courage to close the prison and end this shameful chapter in U.S. history.”

###

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

Hunger Strike 100th Day Vigil

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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.
Continue reading Hunger Strike 100th Day Vigil

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

Human Rights Groups Organize Vigil at White House to Mark 100th Day of Hunger Strike at Guantanamo

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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.
Continue reading Human Rights Groups Organize Vigil at White House to Mark 100th Day of Hunger Strike at Guantanamo

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

Hunger Strike – Day 96 Update

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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 participatingMay 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.
Continue reading Hunger Strike – Day 96 Update

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

WAT Friday Fast for Justice

Hunger Strike Response // Film

We are inviting you to join WAT’s Friday Fast for Justice — a tradition we’ve held for many years (read the full history here). If you join the fast, we would ask you to:

1. Fast on Friday, in any form you like

Go without food in solidarity with the hunger strikers in Guantánamo.

2. Make three phone calls to:

1) The White House (202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414) urging President Obama to declassify the executive summary and major findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture swiftly and in their entirety, as well as to fulfill his promise to close Guantánamo

2) U.S. Southern Command (305-437-1213) to decry the conditions at Guantánamo especially force feeding policy and humiliating body searches that prisoners are subjected to.

3) Call one of the following senators about the The Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act of 2015 (S. 165). On February, 12th, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved legislation authored by Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH that would effectively ban all transfers and ensure that Guantánamo remains open. We are asking people to call their senators and the key senators below preemptively to show our opposition. The amendment would restore a blanket-ban on all transfers of prisoners to Yemen. It punishes men by the simple virtue of their national origin and is irrespective of the particulars of their cases. Prisoners can be safely repatriated to Yemen, and should be done so without legislative obstacle. We are urging Senators to vote “no” on S.165. It would only doom many of the men in Guantánamo to continued miserable and open-ended detention.

Senators to Call:
Senator Mark Begich: (202) 224-3004
Senator Bob Casey: (202) 224-6324
Senator Jeff Flake: (202) 224-4521
Senator Heidi Heitkamp: (202) 224-2043
Senator Angus King: (202) 224-5344
Senator Mary Landrieu: (202) 224-5824
Senator Joe Manchin: (202) 224-3954
Senator John McCain: (202) 224-2235
Senator Bill Nelson: (202) 224-5274
Senator Rand Paul: (202) 224-4343
Senator Jeanne Shaheen: (202) 224-2841
Senator Debbie Stabenow: (202) 224-4822
Senator Jon Tester: (202) 224 2644
Senator John Walsh: (202) 224 2651
Senator Mark Warner:(202) 224-2023

Example script for Senators: I am fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantanamo, especially for those who are on hunger strike. I am calling today to urge you to oppose The Detaining Terrorists to Protect America Act of 2015 (S. 165). This legislation punishes the men in Guantánamo by the simple virtue of their national origin and is irrespective of the particulars of their cases. Prisoners can be safely repatriated to Yemen, and should be done so without legislative obstacle. I are urging you to vote no on S. 165, when it is entered onto the senate floor. Such legislation would doom the men in Guantánamo to miserable and open-ended detention. Rather. I am asking you to support the releasing of the all those clear for release, end the inhumane of practice of force feeding and support legislation that moves towards closing the prison camp in Guantanamo.

Example script for White House and U.S. Southern Command:
I am fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantánamo, especially for those who are on hunger strike. I am calling today out of concern for them and for the rest of the prisoners. I am asking you to resume releasing the number of prisoners on hunger strike and to stop the inhumane practice of force feeding. Lastly, the US must set free those cleared for release and close Guantanamo.3. Write to a prisoner at Guantánamo.

3. Write to a Prisoner at Guantánamo.

letter

Choose a prisoner’s name off the list  at the Amnesty International website. There is also a sample letter that  can be downloaded and printed off here. The address to send the letter to is:

Detainee Name
Detainee ISN
U.S. Naval Station
Guantánamo Bay
Washington D.C. 20355
United States of America

Please also include a return address on the envelope.

If you are already participating in or are interested in participating in the Friday Fast for Justice, please sign up here. You can commit to fasting on a specific Friday, weekly for a particular time period; until Guantánamo is closed; or whatever works for you.

See who participated in previous months.

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

Activists Pressure to Close Guantanamo as Hunger Strike Escalates and Senator Feinstein Calls for Restart of Transfers from the Prison

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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.
Continue reading Activists Pressure to Close Guantanamo as Hunger Strike Escalates and Senator Feinstein Calls for Restart of Transfers from the Prison

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

12 Arrested in Die-In at NYC Federal Courthouse, Say “Shut Down Guantanamo, End Indefinite Detention”

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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

Arrests
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).
Continue reading 12 Arrested in Die-In at NYC Federal Courthouse, Say “Shut Down Guantanamo, End Indefinite Detention”

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail

Gitmo Is Killing Me

Hunger Strike Response // Film

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.
Continue reading Gitmo Is Killing Me

twitterFacebooktumblrmailtwitterFacebooktumblrmail