Category: News

Witness Against Torture Calls on Obama and Congress to Redouble Efforts to Transfer Detained Men and Close Guantánamo; Condemns Partisan Calls to Keep GTMO Open

New York City — Activists from Witness Against Torture support the release of five men from Guantánamo to monitored residence in Qatar in exchange for the American POW Bowe Bergdahl.  While freeing an American captive, the exchange advances the important goals of closing Guantánamo and helping Afghanistan achieve peace after the planned withdrawal of most US forces.  The US must now expedite the release of the 78 detained men already cleared for transfer, plan for the transfer of others, and find a just resolution to the fate of all the men held at Guantánamo.

Witness Against Torture also decries the politically motivated lies and distortions surrounding the prisoner exchange, which wrongly portray all the men at Guantánamo as security risks to the United States and may make closing the prison even more difficult.  The political attacks also obscure a vital aspect of the prisoner exchange: facilitating negotiations with the Taliban over the future of Afghanistan, which both the United States and Afghan governments seek.

“As Bush administration official John Bellinger has written,” says Witness Against Torture’s Matt Daloisio, “there is no legal justification for holding the so-called ‘Taliban 5’ after the end of major military operations in Afghanistan in a prison that should have never have existed.  Their release to Qatar is part of the conclusion of a phase of armed conflict, consistent with the ways nations have drawn down wars.”

“We can’t forget the many men trapped in Guantánamo who are not considered ‘important’ enough to be part of a political deal,” adds activist Palina Prasasouk.  “Those already cleared for transfer demand our immediate attention.  Freeing them is what the nation should be talking about.”

“The great danger in the hysteria surrounding the prisoner swap — cynically stoked by the political right to further demonize President Obama — is that Guantánamo stays open indefinitely,” says Jeremy Varon of Witness Against Torture.  “Any effort to increase congressional restrictions on the transfer of detainees must be resisted.  Guantánamo remains a place of imprisonment without charge or trial, hunger strikes, and continued torture through brutal forced feeding.  Obama’s own record on Guantánamo has been poor, although in the last year we have finally seen some real commitment to closing the prison. That members of Congress and the media are now calling for Guantánamo to remain open forever is completely unacceptable.  We can’t return to the worst days of the Bush administration, when fear-mongering and callous disregard for the rule of law, the facts, and human rights drove US policy.  Guantánamo must close.  Period.  Full stop.”

Formed in 2005, Witness Against Torture is the leading, grassroots human rights organization dedicated to closing Guantánamo and ending indefinite detention.  Its activities include educational events, demonstrations, non-violent civil disobedience, and the co-ordination of global solidarity fasts.

Written by Palina Prasasouk

On the weekend of March 21, 2014 members of Witness Against Torture gathered in Baltimore for a strategic planning retreat. One of the ideas that came from the planning was the upcoming one year anniversary of President Obama’s National Defense Speech where he renewed his promise to close Guantanamo Bay Prison.

Continue reading MAY 23, 2014 Global Call to Close Guantánamo Review

Today, people in over 40 cities across seven countries will take to the streets calling on President Obama to make good on his commitment to close Guantanamo. One year ago on May 23rd, President Obama once again promised to close the detention facility in a speech at the National Defense University. One year later, with 154 men still remaining, 76 of whom have been cleared for release, Witness Against Torture, Code Pink, The Center for Constitutional Rights, World Can’t Wait, and more than 30 other groups are banding together to say “Not Another Broken Promise!”   

There is no excuse for keeping Guantanamo open. The President has the power to shutter the prison and end this United States nightmare of torture and force-feeding. One year later, we continue to indefinitely detain “people who have been charged with no crime on a piece of land that is not a part of our country.”  Today, we are asking you to join your voice with ours and say “Not another day in Guantanamo!”

There are three things you can do to participate in this global call to action to close Guantanamo:

Continue reading Three Things You Can Do Today!

For a full listing of the over 25 cities in 5 countries participating on May 23, click here. For a Tool Kit and Resources for planning your own May 23 event, click here.

MAY 23, 2014 – GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION

TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO & END INDEFINITE DETENTION

Not Another Broken Promise! Not Another Day in Guantanamo! On May 23^rd of last year, President Obama again promised to close the detention facility at Guantánamo.  His pledge came in response to the mass hunger strike by men protesting their indefinite detention and to the renewed, global condemnation of the prison.  One year later, far too little has changed: few detained men have left the prison and hunger strikes and forced feeding continue. Join us in over 25 cities across the US and around the world to urge President Obama and Congress to end indefinite detention and close the detention facility at Guantánamo. So far, demonstrations, fasts, and vigils are planned in Chicago, Raleigh, New York City, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Buffalo, and Boston. .  Please email WitnessTorture@gmail.com if you are planning or hoping to plan an action in your community. The May 23^rd Day of Action is being coordinated by Witness Against Torture in collaboration with Amnesty International, Blue Lantern Project, Center for Constitutional Rights, CloseGitmo.net, Code Pink, London Guantanamo Campaign, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition, Veterans for Peace, World Can’t Wait, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,No More Guantanamos, and others. Contact WitnessTorture@gmail.com  if your organization would like to sign-on as an endorser.  Find the Facebook event listing here. Click here to read Witness Against Torture’s full Call To Action.

SAVE THE DATES – June 27-30 in Washington, DC

Join Witness Against Torture June 27-30, 2014 as we gather together in Washington, DC to commemorate Torture Awareness Month.  Our time together will include public witness with members of the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition (TASSC), community building, and planning for future events. Email witnesstorture@gmail.com if you are interested in participating and/or helping to organize the gathering.

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE FRIDAY FAST FOR JUSTICE

Please consider joining WAT’s Friday Fast for Justice.  If you join the fast, we would ask you to: ·         Fast on Friday, in any form you like; ·         Make three phone calls; (click here to see who we are currently focusing our call on) ·         Write to a prisoner at Guantánamo. (click here for instructions on how) 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, on May 23^rd, the Global Day of Action to Close Guantanamo and End U.S. Torture; weekly for a particular time period; until Guantánamo is closed; or whatever works for you.

WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE SOCIAL MEDIA

Please ‘like’ us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/witnesstorture & Follow Us on Twitter & Instagram: https://twitter.com/witnesstorture – http://instagram.com/witnesstorture# Post any pictures of your local activities to http://www.flickr.com/groups/witnesstorture/, and we will help spread the word on http://witnesstorture.tumblr.com/

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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.

Global Day of Action to Close Guantanamo and End Indefinite Detention – May 23, 2014

On May 23^rd of last year, President Obama again promised to close the prison camp at Guantanamo.  His pledge came in response to the mass hunger strike by men protesting their indefinite detention and to the renewed, global condemnation of the prison.

Since Obama’s speech, only 12 men have been released. 154 remain, nearly all of whom have never been charged with a crime.  76 were cleared for release by the US government years ago.  56 men are from Yemen, the largest national group at Guantanamo, but they remain subject to an effective moratorium on their release based on their nationality.  No one from Yemen has been freed since the May speech.

Up to 40 prisoners continue to hunger strike, and many are being subjected to forced feeding — a practice condemnedby international human rights organizations, medical associations, and members of the US Congress.   New lawsuits in US courts lay bare the extreme cruelty of the forced feeding at Guantanamo.  To quell the public outcry against the prison, the US military in December 2013 stopped reporting the numbers of hunger strikers.  More recently, it has classified their protest, in Orwellian fashion, as “long term non-religious fasting.”

During his May, 2013 speech, President Obama asked the American people: “Look at the current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are being held on a hunger strike . . . Is this who we are?”

Sadly, as we face yet another broken promise, this is what the United States remains — a country that continues to indefinitely detain and brutalize the men at Guantanamo.

Grassroots activists, human rights organizations, and advocates for the detained men call on people throughout the United States and the world to hold President Obama to his promise by taking action. Together, we say “Not another broken promise! Not another day in Guantanamo!”

Check out a full list of actions on our events page.  Click here to view our toolkit for planning your own action!

Written by Marie Shebeck

Jonah House filled up over the course of Thursday, March 21 as friends and fellow activists flew, drove, bused, and trained into Baltimore for our second annual strategic planning retreat. On Friday, after Jonah House residents Ted, Amy and baby Eli welcomed us to their new home, we spent the morning reflecting at four stations created by Beth B., Chrissy N., and Chris K.  Each station had a question and various images and objects, such as artwork created by the men at Guantanamo, dismal pictures of the prison, and an empty orange jumpsuit.  The questions were:

1. In what ways has Witness Against Torture enriched our personal journeys?
2. What inner values do we bring to this work?
3. What am I stepping away from this weekend?
4. How do you think about the journeys of the men at Guantánamo Bay?

These questions stayed with us through the weekend as we met, discussed, ate, and spent time with one another. We invite you to reflect on them as well.

We then jumped in to the strategic planning. Matt D. and Jeremy V. gave in-depth updates about the political and legal status of Guantanamo.  Topics ranged from the number and pace of releases from the prison; to the ongoing hunger strikes and legal challenges to forced-feeding; to the upcoming NDAA authorization; to current media coverage of Guantánamo.  Matt and Jeremy also relayed what our allies identified as their priorities for the coming year.

The Agenda Team (Helen, Jeremy, Beth, Jerica, Matt) facilitated several incredibly stimulating sessions to help us redesign Witness Against Torture’s structure so that the group can be more unified and effective.  These included small group conversations, as well as drawing and writing exercises. These activities led us to think about our own roles in WAT and how we wish to improve its design.  They also encouraged us to name our thoughts around power dynamics and what might keep us from participating wholeheartedly. It was energizing to think about how we can all share in the work that WAT does in a way that best honors our talents, intentions and shared vision.

On Saturday, we met at Viva House — a Catholic Worker house in Baltimore depicted in the TV series The Wire — to continue our redesign conversation and start planning for the coming year. It was during these sections that we decided on the focus of the year.

What decided to focus on for 2014:

1. To organize a Global Day of Action to Close Guantánamo and End US Torture on May 23, 2014. This is the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s last speech about Guantánamo. (There is currently a Working Group to prepare for the Day of Action.) Email us for more info.
2. To participate in Torture Survivor Awareness Month activities in Washington DC from June 26th thru the 30th. This will include meetings to talk more about WAT.
3. To mobilize around lawsuits that are currently challenging forced-feeding in Guantánamo. (More info to come)
4. January 11th, 2015: We also began discussion of the focus and location of our next January actions (DC or the Southern Command HQ in Florida). Get excited! More details to come.
5. Finally, we formed a WAT Organizing Team (See description below).

On Sunday, many attended a liturgy at Jonah house led by Liz McAllister.  The whole group then shared brunch and a closing reflection with the art from the men detained at Guantánamo. As we recommit to this crucial and desolate advocacy, we remember the journeys of these men and the justice they seek.

What is the WAT Organizing Team?

Written by Jeremy Varon

After thorough discussion of WAT’s structure and how it both enables and sometimes holds us back, those at the retreat unanimously voted to establish a WAT Organizing Team.  Nine volunteers — Jerica, Matt, Beth B, Marie, Chrissy, Beth A, Palina , Chris K, and Jeremy — agreed to join the team.  Their commitment to this role was acknowledged and celebrated by all at the retreat.

The WAT community functions with tremendous energy, cooperation, and shared responsibility when large numbers of us gather, fast, and organize together every January in Washington, DC. (January 11 is the “anniversary” of when the prison opened in 2002, and a time for anti-Guantanamo protests worldwide.)  But during much of the year, when we are dispersed, too few people in the group set the strategic vision, and plan and scramble to organize protests and other initiatives.  This limits how much we take on, threatens some of us with burn-out, and makes poor use of the talent and energy WAT members possess.  It also focuses our activities in a small number of geographic areas.

At the retreat, we decided that we want a new structure so that WAT can mobilize actions and respond to developments in Guantanamo with greater frequency, reach, and power.  To make this happen, we set up an Organizing Team, compromising members from different regions and with diverse skill sets.  Some of the core tasks of the Organizing Team are: to think of strategic ways — year round — that WAT can serve its goals of closing Guantanamo and ending torture; to mobilize people and other resources to take effective action; to devise rapid responses to particular crises at Guantanamo and shifts in the political landscape; and to build and maintain relationships with allies.

But that’s only part of it.  Equally important, the Organizing Team exists to help WAT members nationwide bring their own actions and campaigns to fruition by directing resources to them and providing, as needed, assistance with particular tasks (eg, media work, demo design, getting materials onto our Website and into our social media).  The Organizing Team, that is, works in two directions: it directs energy out to WAT nationwide; and it receives ideas, input, and instruction from WAT members everywhere to facilitate local action.

The Witness Against Torture community is built on trust and commitment to a common vision.  The Organizing Team model likewise has trust at its foundation: that the Team itself will serve the best interests of the larger group and our shared cause, and that WAT members everywhere will both respect the Team and hold it accountable to its purpose.

The Team will meet face-to-face again in June, and we will assess as a larger group how it is working, as well as its composition, in January of next year.