January 11 Fast for Justice: will you be there?

Greetings, WAT Community,

It's official! We're coming to DC again this January, but we need to know how many to plan for. Please RSVP by Nov 20 (witnesstorture@gmail.com)!

Read on for details, as well as an update on the Guantanamo Survivors Fund, Islamophobic blowback about critiques of a Guantanamo film, solidarity for the liberation of artwork when men are "transferred" from Guantanamo, and again, actions you can take to support forever prisoners and to to close Guantanamo for good.

We hope to see you in Washington in January or on one of the J11 Zoom events!

In peace and solidarity
WAT Organizing Team

RSVP by Nov 20: WAT Fast for Justice in January in DC
We are coming to DC again this January, but to secure space, we must know by Nov 20 how many are coming and how many need shared lodging.

Required RSVP by Nov 20 (witnesstorture@gmail.com) with subject line "I'm coming to DC." Tell us: Do you expect to come? what days? do you have a place to stay? can you help with planning?

Details: The pandemic has changed everything except our resolve, including access to space (we're starting from scratch). We will fast from Saturday Jan 7 until Wednesday Jan 11. We'll be hybrid: for those who fast from home there will be Zoom gatherings and virtual events. For those who come to DC, we'll arrange some sleeping space in beds in hostels and many will stay in homes in the community. We'll gather each day in a downtown meeting space for circles, planning actions, and debriefing afterwards. Wednesday we'll break our fast and hold the January 11 rally and action.

Big news: Former detainees going to Cuba! We'll have J11 solidarity actions in DC to support the CAGE delegation, including former detainees as well as former guards, who are going to Cuba for January 11. Stay tuned for updates!

Continue pressure to release Guantanamo prisoners

One success: Guantanamo census down from 36 to 35: Saifullah Paracha arrived home in Pakistan on October 29 after nearly 20 years of imprisonment without charge or trial.
Contact Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee urging passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with no limitations on transfers from Guantanamo. If your (Democratic) Senator is on the committee, please call that person once a week!
Call on the Biden administration for Urgent Action to release all Guantanamo detainees cleared for transfer now.

Guantanamo Survivors Fund: Help the men who've been "released"
Of nearly 800 men sent to Guantanamo Prison, only 35 remain: the rest are scattered around the world, many in very precarious circumstances, stateless, without travel documents, and "surveilled" (read harassed) by the country where the US sent them. The Guantanamo Survivors Fund seeks to provide immediate short-term support for their most urgent needs such as medical care, rent, and job training. You can help former Guantanamo prisoners overcome immediate hurdles and, we hope, start them toward sustainable livelihoods.

Please donate to the Guantanamo Survivors Fund
.....and spread the word to your friends and networks!

Support former prisoners demanding Biden release Guantanamo artwork
Eight former Guantanamo detainees have written a letter urging the president to "end the Trump-era policy on preventing artwork from leaving Guantanamo and release the captive art from the prison." In it, Khaled Qasim says, “I ask you all to help me to free my artwork from Guantánamo. My artworks are part of me and my life. If the US government does not agree to release my artwork, I will refuse to leave Guantánamo without my artwork.” Add your name in solidarity.

Send a photo to Andy for Nov 1, Day 7,600 of Guantanamo's existence
Nov 1 marks 7,600 days since Guantanamo opened. Take a photo with the Close Guantanamo Campaign's poster and send it to Andy Worthington (info@closeguantanamo.org). Can't print the poster? Bring it up the on your phone and have someone take a photo of you holding your phone and then send it to Andy. Either way, you'll be in excellent company!

The film Jihad Rehab morphs into UnRedacted
In February the Close Guantanamo Coalition (including WAT) met with filmmaker Meg Smaker and co-producer Christina Chin about Jihad Rehab, their film about the "rehabilitation center" for Guantanamo prisoners transferred to the Saudi kingdom. Critics of the film, including former detainees, said it promotes negative stereotypes of Muslims and falsely labels the men as "terrorists." Voiceover in the film: "Can you ever rehabilitate a terrorist?" Smaker and Chin asked for the Coalition's feedback on how to "tweak" the film to make it less offensive. After much discussion the Coalition declined to view the film as it was.

Since then, Meg Smaker has accused critics of censorship and of attacking her because of her "whiteness" -- she has used the controversy to raise over $500,000. Earlier this month Noa Yachot published an in-depth article in the Guardian quoting Attorney Clive Stafford Smith, who was aghast at Smaker's use of the US government's claims against the men. 'Those are the wet dreams of the US military about each of the prisoners.'"

Taking it another step, Dr. Maha Hilal challenges Smaker's failure to obtain true informed consent, outlining the ethics of journalism: "This isn't cancel culture. This is a matter of recognizing the power dynamics a white non-Muslim woman with her camera brings to her work interviewing imprisoned Muslims. This is about treating your sources with respect and refraining from reiterating the terrorist stereotypes that continue to have devastating impacts on the community."

Donate to support our work

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Who we are

Witness Against Torture was formed in 2005 when 25 Americans went to Guantánamo Bay and attempted to visit the detention facility. They began to organize more broadly to shut down Guantánamo, end indefinite detention and torture and call out Islamophobia. During our demonstrations, we lift up the words of the detainees themselves, bringing them to public spaces they are not permitted to access. Witness Against Torture will carry on in its 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.
www.witnessagainsttorture.com