Guantanamo: Dramatic Protests Inside and Out

by Debra Sweet

January 11th in Washington, we massed in front of all 3 branches of the government reported to represent "freedom and democracy for all." About 800 of us marched from the White House, past the Department of Justice, and stood in front of the Supreme Court, opposite the Capitol. Amnesty International brought a lot of students.

I was thinking most of the prisoners still in Guantánamo, where no one has been released for more than a year (except in coffins). They began a political protest and some went on hunger strike for 3 days, beginning Tuesday, in solidarity with our actions. Their lawyers brought us the message that they take heart from what we do. Imagine, if you can, what it must be like to have been held for up to 10 years – perhaps being told you can be released – but still sitting there year after year. See Andy Worthington’s article, below.

I was moved by the massing of their attorneys, many holding the names of their clients, at the protest (photo, right). Some of them know each other from the "secure facility" near Washington in which they are forced to do work on the Guantánamo cases. Attorneys Mari Newman, Darold Killmer, and Tom Kilner joined Andy Worthington in speaking to almost 100 people on Tuesday evening after a showing of Andy’s film Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo.

In front of the Supreme Court, I spoke, as did Andy, Leili Kashani & Vince Warren from the Center for Constitutional Rights, attorneys Tom Kilner & Steve Oleskey, and a remarkable former Guantánamo guard, now conscientious objector named Daniel J. Lakemacher, whose site is warisimmoral.com. See an OccupyDC livestream of the rally here, where you’ll catch my speech.

Brandon Neely, another Guantánamo guard who later protested the prison, was profiled by Jason Leopold on Truthout.org: "It Was a Sunny Day".

Andy Worthington: Guantánamo Prisoners Stage Peaceful Protest and Hunger Strike on 10th Anniversary of the Opening of the Prison

Ramzi Kassem, a law professor at the City University of New York, and one of the attorneys for Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo, said that his client, who is held in isolation in Camp 5, told him on his last visit that the prisoners would embark on a peaceful protest and hunger strike for three days, from Jan. 10 to 12, to protest about the President’s failure to close Guantánamo as promised.

He explained that the men intended to inform the Officer in Charge ahead of the protest, to let the authorities know why there would be protests, and added that the prisoners were encouraged by the “expression of solidarity” from US citizens planning protests on Jan. 11, the 10^th anniversary of the opening of the prison.

Kassem also said that another of his clients, in Camp 6, where most of the prisoners are held, and where, unlike Camp 5, they are allowed to socialize, stated that prisoners throughout the blocks were “extremely encouraged” by reports of the protests in Washington D.C….

Yesterday, we got this from the White House: McClatchy reporter Carol Rosenberg tweeted, "Guantánamo spokeswoman: We won’t disclose what captives have written on signs protesting 10th anniversary of prison. No photos, either."

Yesterday was a day of protest across the country. We have photos from Chicago and San Francisco, with more to come from other cities.

New Project: CloseGuantanamo.org
You can sign up to join this project by Guantánamo lawyers and Andy Worthington to focus attention on the stories of the prisoners there, and on the demand to the Obama administration to close it NOW!