Dear Friends,  

Dear Friends and supporters

Witness Against Torture formed in 2005 when 25 Americans went to Guantánamo Bay and attempted to visit the detention facility. Once we returned from that journey, we began to organize more broadly to shut down Guantánamo, working with interfaith, human rights and activist organizations.

As we approach our ten year anniversary, we are still here at the forefront of the struggle to close Guantanamo and end torture everywhere. Our most recent celebration was Shaker Aamer’s release to his family and home in the UK. He sent his supporters a message included below – please read it! It’s for you too. You helped get him home.

And the work continues. There are 112 men left indefinitely detained at Guantanamo Bay Prison. They need to be released, not moved to a new prison. There is also a man – Younous Chekkouri, who was released from Guantanamo in September only to be detained by his own government in Morocco. His wife wrote a heartwrenching appeal here and our partners at Reprieve are encouraging folks to write to John Kerry here.

President Obama’s last year in office is approaching and we have decided to put together a video, explaining our mission and work, and launch a fundraiser to raise $8,000 by December 15. We need your help to make this effort successful.

Please click on the image above or click here to donate : https://www.razoo.com/story/Witness-Against-Torture

Please share the fundraiser page and Witness Against Torture’s mission with your family and friends via email, facebook, twitter and all other forms of communication.

With your support, we will carry on in our 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

January Fast for Justice: January 3rd to the 13th, 2016:

Please also consider joining us in D.C. this January to continue our witness. If you know you are coming please RSVP to witnesstorture@gmail.com

A Photo and a Message from Shaker Aamer to His Supporters:

Shaker Aamer writes:

Hi Joanne and Andy,

Please send this message below to all of those who campaigned with We Stand With Shaker, the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, those who fasted for me, MPs, and everyone else you know who has fought for my release.

I can’t tell you how much I want to speak to all of you and stand with all of you, carrying on the struggle for justice for everybody who has been oppressed and needs our help. If there is one thing we can do to save the whole world it is to fight for justice. We will work hard together to close Guantánamo and every unlawful facility run by any government worldwide. Justice has no colour or religion or race.

I promise all of you good people — those whose names I know, and those whose names I do not know — that my heart and my spirit feel your thoughts of justice. I care for you all.

Yours sincerely,

Shaker Aamer ISN 239

11.11.15

Witness Against Torture on Social Media:
Please “like” us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter & Instagram.
Check out our latest news and updates on Tumblr.
Post any pictures of your local activities to our flicker 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: https://www.razoo.com/story/Witness-Against-Torture

Dear friends and supporters,

There have been a flurry of news items around Guantanamo and we want to share with you some of the ways we have been lifting them up and how you can be involved.

Shaker Aamer Sill Needs Your Help!

Shaker Aamer, the last UK resident held at Guantanamo, is slated to be released back to the UK as early as Sunday!  He is on hunger strike until his release (learn more about it by clicking here) .  Hundreds of activists around the world — including British MPs, “celebrities” like Roger Waters and David Morrissey, and many in the WAT community — have engaged in solidarity fasts, organized by our friends in the UK.  The Fast for Shaker campaign is still seeking fast pledges!  It would be great to get lots of pledges for what we hope are Shaker’s final days in the prison.

Click here to support the campaign and pledge a day of fasting

WAT Member Reviews Laurie Anderson’s at exhibit “Habeas Corpus”

On Oct. 4 a dozen members of WAT saw the GTMO-themed installation, “Habeas Corpus,” by the renowned performance artist Laurie Anderson in NYC.  Jeremy Varon, WAT member and Professor at The New School, wrote a wonderful review of the piece.  His review breaks down the politics of habeas corpus and highlights WAT’s solidarity efforts with the men at Guantanamo.  

Click here to read the review, post a comment, and share with friends! 

Save the Date: Witness Against Torture in DC, January 3rd – 13th, 2016

Lastly, please save the date for our annual gathering in Washington, D.C. January 3-13, 2016. We will fast, reflect and lift the voices of the men unjustly detained at Guantanamo Bay Prison in the streets of Washington, DC.

January 11th, 2016 marks 14 years of torture and indefinite detention at the prison, as well as President Obama’s 8th year of broken promises. This is our final chance to hold his administration accountable to their promise to release those unjustly detained and close the prison. Right now 114 men remain detained, 52 of whom have been cleared for release and are held without charge or trial.

Let us come together to use our creative energy and direct action to encourage citizens and government officials to see the humanity of the men and call for the closure of the prison.

If you only come for one day, join us for the rally with our coalition partners on January 11th.

You are also invited to join us from afar. Every year people join us in fasting and organizing actions in their communities.

Witness Against Torture on Social Media:

Please “like us on Facebook &
follow us on Twitter & Instagram
Check out our latest news and updates on Tumblr.
Post any pictures of your local activities to our flicker 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. 

No Separate Justice & Witness Against Torture Speak Out Against Torture, Racism and Islamophobia in Overseas and Domestic Prisons

Please join the No Separate Justice Campaign and Witness Against Torture for a vigil outside the Metropolitan Correction Center (MCC) in New York City on Monday, October 5, from 6 pm to 7 pm.  The event will have presentations by organizers, advocates, and attorneys addressing abuses in the United States’ domestic and overseas detention systems.  It will highlight the ongoing harassment of Yemenis and Yemeni-Americans by US officials; the case of Tariq Ba Odah, a gravely ill hunger striker at Guantanamo; recent victories in efforts to end solitary confinement in domestic prisons; and the connection between interlocking systems of Islamophobia, white supremacy, mass incarceration, solitary confinement, and other forms of torture.

The program includes:

Pardiss Kebriaei – Center for Constitutional Rights, Senior Staff Attorney
Jeremy Varon – Witness Against Torture organizer, Professor of History at The New School
Ramzi Kassem – CUNY Law Professor, Director of the Immigrant & Non-Citizen Rights Clinic
Fran Geteles-Shapiro – Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement
Aliya Hussain – Center for Constitutional Rights, Advocacy Program Manager
Luke Nephew – The Peace Poets!
Christine Moore – Opera Soprano

Where: Metroploitan Corrections Center, lower Manhattan
When: Monday, October 5, 6-7 pm.

** Anti-Guantanamo activists will stage a demonstration on behalf of Tariq Ba Odah at the Federal Courthouse (500 Pearl St.) at 5 pm in Foley Square. Around 5:30 we will process to the MCC for the No Separate Justice vigil. (The courthouse is about block away from the MCC.)

For more information: Click here: 

Guantanamo Prisoners Released: 

It has been a cautiously hope-filled month for those of us demanding the release of all prisoners detained at Guantanamo. We celebrate the good news but continue to work towards a day when places like Guantanamo no longer exist. First, The Periodic Review Board has cleared Fayiz Al Kandari for release. Secondly, two more men have been sent “home.” Younous Chekkouri is now detained in Morrocco and has been allowed to meet with his family. Abdul Rahman Shalabi has been released to Saudi Arabia. Finally, During the Pope’s visit to the United States, it was announced that Shaker Aamer will finally be released to the UK. We join his family and legal team in asking for his immediate release. Please continue to share these stories and keep those released in your thoughts and prayers. May their transition to freedom and their journey of recovery be full of connection and support. Click here to read more. 

Save the Date: Fast for Justice in Washington DC. – January 3rd- 13th, 2016

 Witness Against Torture on Social Media:

Please “like” us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter & Instagram.
Check out our latest news and updates on Tumblr.
Post any pictures of your local activities to our flicker 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: http://www.witnesstorture.org.

Dear Friends—

Thank you all for the compassion and conviction you put into making phone calls and fasting last Friday, September 18th in solidarity with Tariq Ba Odah and all our brothers in the prison at Guantánamo.

Jerica Arents, a long-time member of the WAT community reminds us:

Over the years we have done a lot of fasting. This is intentional – for many of us, it’s a spiritual practice. It reminds us that we are embodied: that we have bodies that we live in every day. Our bodies need shelter, nourishment, rest, warmth. Our bodies can become sick; they can be in pain, imprisoned, locked away, and forgotten.

It strikes me that at its very core, seeing the world with an abolitionist framework is acknowledging that we share this common and profound reality of embodiment. This system of punishment that locks bodies in cages, that tortures bodies into false confessions and leaves bodies to rot in solitary confinement is fundamentally dehumanizing and deeply disturbing. These bodies, captured and detained in the U.S., happen to be disproportionally black and brown.

We also fast because we believe it’s a powerful political act. For millennia, human beings have used hunger strikes as a way to resist unjust systems. When all other forms of protest have failed – when you’ve done everything in your power to change the situation and still you’re ignored – your last-ditch effort, the only thing left in your sphere of influence, is your body. The stakes are high. One’s body becomes a bargaining chip – your life, your body, is now solely in the hands of those responsible for changing the situation.

This is the case for Tariq Ba Odah. A young man from Yemen who has been indefinitely detained in Guantanamo since 2002, Ba Odah has never been charged with a crime. In 2007 he began his hunger strike as a last-ditch effort to protest his illegal confinement by the U.S. military. Since then, he’s been force-fed two times a day – a form of torture itself – to keep his body alive. Ba Odah is now 74 pounds and gravely, dangerously sick. His lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights have fought for years for his release.

Nearly 100 people from the United States, Canada, and Germany joined the solidarity fast and made phone calls to the Department of Justice, the White House, and Southern Command last week. Thirty of those fasting wrote personal statements.  You can read some of their powerful statements below.

If you are interested in keeping up with Tariq’s case, the Center for Constitutional Rights has the most up to date information here. For those of you who are interested in continuing to  participate in this way, please check out our weekly Fast for Justice . Finally, we are encouraging people to continue to make phone calls urging the end the inhumane practice of force-feeding, and the immediate release of the remaining prisoners at Guantánamo, especially those cleared for release. The call-in Information is located at the end of this page.

Thank you again for your participation in WAT’s emergency call to action and solidarity fast.  It is inspiring to know that we are joined with you and others in a worldwide community hungering for justice.

With much gratitude,

Witness Against Torture

Personal Statements:

I am fasting for Tariq Ba Obah on Friday in solidarity with him and his continuing torture and illegal detention at the hands of my government. I hope my tiny contribution to the list of fasting and concerned people he will receive will be of some small comfort to him.

My nephew died on 9/11 in the WTC. I want only peace and justice for him – not revenge on anyone, least of all the many innocents in Guantanamo.  And it is time for those who can be charged to have a fair trial in US federal court. And for the rest to be released.

To ignore Tariq Ba Obah’s suffering and physical and mental condition is to deny humanity and the rule of law. I am frustrated by and horribly ashamed of my government.

Valerie
New York, NY

I will be fasting tomorrow in solidarity with Tariq Ba Odah and all of the men who are being held at Guantánamo. I fast as a simple reminder of the deprivations they have been subjected to on a daily basis for years, indefinitely. I fast to join Tariq Ba Odah in protesting the egregious injustices which he and others at Guantánamo endure — injustices which he has been moved to protest against with his body, one of the few tools afforded him. I fast so that when I make calls on his behalf, my voice might carry even just a little more weight because I am among those willing to forgo food in protest of another’s suffering.

Andrea
Brooklyn, NY

I plan to participate in the day of fasting on behalf of Tariq Ba Odah because it is the least I can do to be in solidarity with him and the remaining prisoners in Guantánamo. I act from a heart filled with outrage and sadness that my government continues to be obsessed with waging torture on individuals and war on humanity despite the howling outcry from people around the world.

I have faith that the day will come when Americans look back in horror and shame at what has been executed on this planet in our name and will successfully bring the perpetrators to justice.

Meanwhile, blessings on Tariq and those who suffer from American policies throughout the world…

Ridgley
Belfast and Vienna, ME

I am fasting during the time of the Jewish New Year but not on Yom Kippur, instead on a day that allows me to support Tariq and the other prisoners who thirst and hunger for justice and freedom.  This is a time of reflection and spiritual renewal and also a time when we look back on what has been accomplished or left unfinished during the past year, in preparation to taking up the tasks again in the New Year.  So it’s the perfect time to recommit to the job of closing Guantánamo and freeing all of those imprisoned there.

Mickie
Albany, NY

I will fast on Friday.
My fast is a small prayer,
a small way of putting my two feet on the ground
to stand with Tariq.

Garrett
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,

Please continue to make three phone calls to:

1. Department of Justice (202-353-1555) to urge the DOJ not to stand in the way of Tariq’s rquest to the court for release on humanitarian grounds and effors by other low-risk inmates at Guantánamo who are actively seeking their release through habeas corpus petitions.
2. U.S. Southern Command (305-437-1213) to decry the conditions at Guantánamo, especially the force feeding of Tariq Ba Odah, and others.
3. President Obama at the White House (202-456-1111) or tweeting @BarackObama to urge him to advise the Department of Justice to stand down in Tariq Ba Odah’s case and pave the way for his immediate release. Additionally, President Obama and his administration the need to use its existing authority to work more quickly to shut the doors and empty the cells of the prison

Example script: I am fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantánamo, especially for those who are on hunger strike and being force-fed. I am particularly mindful today of Tariq Ba Odah, a prisoner who is being represented by attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights. He has been held without charge since 2002, and cleared for release since 2009. His attorneys are asking for his immediate release as he, at 74 pounds, is gravely ill according to at least three medical experts. I am calling today out of concern for him and for the rest of the prisoners, who remain unjustly detained. I am asking that your office help facilitate the release of Tariq Ba Odah, to end the inhumane practice of force feeding, and the immediate release of the remaining prisoners at Guantánamo, especially those cleared for release.

Dear Friends,

Greetings to everyone! Thank you to all of you who have fasted with WAT in the past, and for those of you taking part in our weekly Fast for Justice.  Those of you who have fasted know the value of this ancient spiritual practice.  Fasting not only creates a hunger and want for food in us, but is also an act of moving into solidarity with those who suffer from physical hunger and those who hunger for justice at Guantánamo and elsewhere.

This past January 11th in Washington, DC on the thirteenth anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantánamo, WAT member Jeremy Varon said,

       In 2013, inspired by the mass hunger strike in Guantánamo, tens of thousands of      prisoners in California and other states went on hunger strike to protest solitary confinement.  This brave act, in turn, inspired anti- Guantánamo activists to engage in solidarity hunger fasts lasting as long as 100 days.  News of this solidarity made it through lawyers to the hunger strikers at Guantánamo, whose expression of thanks caused us to push harder.  Here we have global solidarity, not only among prisoner advocates, but among imprisoned human beings themselves.  Let us dwell also on the awesome power of this fact, and the world-changing potential it has.

Keeping in mind the powerful witness fasting can be, Witness Against Torture is once again putting out an emergency call to action and solidarity fast this Friday, September 18, 2015 in support of the Center for Constitutional Rights’ appeal on behalf of Yemeni prisoner, Tariq Ba Odah.  I hope you will consider joining us.

Finally, we are grateful to you all for your steadfastness to the work of closing Guantánamo and ending torture and indefinite detention.

With much gratitude,

Witness Against Torture

Emergency Fast for Tariq Ba Odah and the Hunger Strikers — Fast for Justice

 “Freedom should be much more precious for the human being than all the desires on earth. And we should never give it up regardless of how expensive the price may be.” – Tariq Ba Odah, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, 2013

Witness Against Torture is calling for an emergency fast to highlight the case of Guantánamo prisoner, Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni man who has been detained at the prison without charge since 2002 and cleared for release in 2009.  According to his attorneys, Tariq, who at 74 pounds—56% of his ideal body weight– is on the brink of death according to three health officials.    Please consider fasting on Friday, September 18, 2015 in solidarity with Tariq Ba Odah and the remaining 116 Guantánamo prisoners.

If you plan to fast, send an email to witnesstorture@gmail.com.  Please include in the email where you live and a brief statement as to why you are fasting.  If you cannot fast on Friday, feel free to choose another day this week to fast.  Witness Against Torture will report the numbers of those fasting and convey, through attorneys, your messages to Tariq and others at Guantánamo.

Click here for full information regarding emergency fast:  

Witness Against Torture participates in the No Separate Justice Vigil:

Join us on October 5th, 2015 in NYC from 6pm to 7pm. The Vigil will be held outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan – 150 Park Row –

Contact Jeremy Varon at jvaron@aol.com to get involved.

Save the Date: Fast for Justice – January 3rd- 13th, 2016

Witness Against Torture on Social Media:

Please “like us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter & Instagram
Check out our latest news and updates on Tumblr.
Post any pictures of your local activities to our flicker 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.

While in Washington, DC for their trials in June, members of Witness Against Torture performed impromptu public readings of letters From Tariq Ba Odah, a man who has been held in Guantánamo for over a decade. WAT member and filmmaker Justin Norman later edited these into a video to bring Tariq’s words to a wider audience on the Internet.

Experts and organizers from a wide variety of backgrounds, from anti-torture to prison abolition work, gathered in Washington DC on June 27th, 2015 to discuss how solitary confinement, police torture, surveillance of Muslim communities and CIA torture intersect to create a culture where torture is permitted and legally justified to perpetuate state violence. Panelists included Juan E. Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture; Dr. Stephen Xenakis, anti-torture advisor to Physicians For Human Rights; Dr. Maha Hilal is the Deputy Executive Director of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms; El-Hajj Mauri’ Saalakhan is a Metropolitan Washington, DC. Check out the full discussion on video right here.

Dear friends and supporters,

June was a busy month for Witness Against Torture members and we want to take a moment to share what we are working on in the hopes you will join us. Josie, Chrissy and Helen have written a recap of our trials and actions during Torture Awareness Week in DC, in support of survivors of torture. Please check these reflections to hear about our time together: “Case Dismissed: A Personal Reflection,” “The Iftar Circle – A Reflection,” and “The Closing Days of Torture Awareness Week.” Both cases were dismissed but you can read what the court would have heard from our well-prepared trial groups by clicking here, and what Aliya Hussein said about it in CCR’s blog.

While in DC we were excited to support Justin in creating a video about Tariq Ba Odah for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is appealing for his immediate release from Guantanamo Bay Prison. Here is the full video:

We are also collaborating with No Separate Justice to participate in their monthly NYC vigil in October -– Stay tuned for more info and ways to get involved soon.

Please continue to join our Fast for Justice Campaign as a way to act in solidarity with the men detained at Guantanamo.

We appreciate your support and your hunger for justice.

Mark your Calendars – October 5th, 2015: Witness Against Torture Vigil in collaboration with No Separate Justice in NYC

The human rights and civil rights abuses taking place in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay have, rightly, been placed under a spotlight by people of conscience around the world. Some believe that if only those detained at Guantanamo could be transferred to American soil, to be held and tried as civilians, the abuses would end and justice would be done.

Yet many of the same abuses can be found in the hundreds of “war on terror” cases that have been processed through courtrooms and federal prisons across the United States since 9/11. These abuses — which include inhumane conditions of confinement both pre- and post-trial; evidence kept secret from the person being accused; intrusive surveillance; vague material support charges; FBI-created plots brought into communities through paid informants; and the criminalization of Islamic speech and association -– remain largely invisible.

The mission of the No Separate Justice campaign is to place these abuses, taking place in prisons and courtrooms across the United States, firmly on the agendas of human and civil right organizations, the media, and the U.S. public through education and activism that draws directly upon the experiences and voices of those most directly affected.

Contact Jeremy Varon at jvaron@aol.com to get involved in the October 5 Vigil.

Witness Against Torture on Social Media:

Please “like” us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter & Instagram.
Check out our latest news and updates on Tumblr.
Post any pictures of your local activities to our flicker 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.