Thursday January 11: 22 years since the Bush/Cheney regime set up the U.S. torture camp on Guantanamo, to imprison people outside the law. We demand it be closed now! Join us in cities across the U.S.
Join Vigils and Rallies Across the U.S. January 10, 11, 12 and 13
Sponsors: World Can’t Wait, Amnesty International US, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Victims of Torture, CloseGuantanamo.org, CODEPINK, Muslim Counterpublics Lab, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, No More Guantanamos, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Witness Against Torture.
We will protest this terrible anniversary, knowing that even the close of the prison will not bring justice. Mansoor Adayfi, released in 2016 from Guantanamo, has become an energetic and eloquent advocate for released prisoners, many of whom are still not “home,” still separated from their families, never having received the tiniest acknowledgment of their illegitimate imprisonment, or the means to carry on their lives. Mansoor wrote in Common Dreams.org on New Year’s Day:
“…Despite the fact that the transfer out of Guantánamo was supposed to offer survivors some reprieve from the abuse at the prison, many of those who have been repatriated to their home country or resettled in a third country have found themselves in either another prison or in what we call Guantánamo 2.0. Those of us who remained in Guantánamo while our brothers were released heard shocking stories about their predicaments. This includes Uyghur prisoners being released to a refugee camp in Albania and having their beards forcibly shaved by the Albanian police; a prisoner who was resettled in Slovakia and beaten by police so severely he had to be hospitalized; and many former prisoners who have simply disappeared in prisons where they were abused, tortured, and killed...”
Wednesday January 10 webinar: From Gaza to Guantanamo: Resisting State Violence & Occupation
View a presentation by Katherine Gallagher, presenter in the webinar above, to the UN
Friday January 12 webinar:
Larry Felson writes from the Emergency Campaign to Free Iran’s Political Prisoners Now:
Iranian political prisoner rapper Toomaj Salehi took part in protests last year upholding the Women Life Freedom movement after the killing of Mahsa Amini by the “morality police” for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly, and videos of his powerful, defiant songs and raps are extolled in Iran and internationally. We call on all touched by learning of his stand and music to find ways to express your rage against the ruthless persecution of this true people’s artist and activist who hasn’t sold out despite all he has been through… He has recently been re-arrested for “disturbing public opinion[!]” and his life is in extreme danger.
