J11 '23: We're still here because they're still there

Hello, WAT Family,

January 11, 2023 begins the third decade Guantanamo has been open. We're outraged. We remain in solidarity with the men who suffer in Guantanamo and those still suffering outside Guantanamo. Witness Against Torture has called out their names since 2005.

This year some of us will gather once more in DC and nationwide. Scroll down for the DC Fast for Justice schedule and links to rallies across the US and a virtual rally. Please join us in whatever way you can. This year's Fast for Justice meeting space and housing costs are double what they were in years' past, so donations to WAT are greatly appreciated.

And you can support the men in actions that go way beyond rallies and vigils: double your donation to the Guantanamo Survivors Fund in the a dollar-for-dollar match that ends Dec 31 (see below); send a visual J11 message to President Biden via the Gtmo Clock; contact the President directly, and write letters to the men still inside. Take these actions now and gear up for yet another year of solidarity.

May the new year bring relief and restitution for all Guantanamo survivors.

In peace,
WAT Organizing Team

2023 DC Fast for Justice

We will meet in the Shalom Room at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation**
222 East Capitol St NE, Washington DC 20003 (note: there's no housing here)
A hostel** elsewhere has limited space for people to stay: email WAT to see if there's still space
**We ask that everyone be vaccinated; Masks required in both spaces

Here's the schedule:
Fri Jan 6-8: Fast at home; Fri evening Zoom call (email WAT for the link)
Mon Jan 9: 7 am: Pentagon Vigil; 9 am - 9 pm: meet in Shalom Room, witness in DC
Tue Jan 10: 9 am - 9 pm: Continue our work in the Shalom Room, witness in DC
Wed Jan 11: 8 am: Shalom Room: Circle, Break Fast
1 pm: White House Vigil
4 pm: Online rally

Rallies Around the U.S.

Washington DC Vigil
Wed Jan 11, 1 pm ET
White House
Organized by WAT and National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Los Angeles Rally
Close Guantanamo Rally
Wed Jan 11, noon to 1:30 pm PT
Downtown LA Federal Building, N Los Angeles St, Los Angeles CA
Livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQIBAeLmtFo
Organized by Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace

New York Rally
Wed Jan 11, 4 - 6 pm ET
New York Public Library (On the Steps)
5th Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018
Action Network link, Facebook link
Organized by World Can't Wait

Northampton, MA Vigil and March
Wed Jan 11, start time TBD
Begin at the Hampshire County Courthouse (Main Street between Gothic and King Streets)
Contact ntalanian@nogitmos.org
Organized by No More Guantanamos

Raleigh North Carolina Rally
Wed Jan 11, 12 - 1:30 PM
Federal Building at New Bern Avenue and Person Street in Raleigh
Organized by NC Stop Torture Now

Augusta Maine Rally
Sat Jan 14, 1 - 2 pm (snow date Sun 15)
Augusta Armory, 179 Western Ave
Organized by Pax Christi Maine, Peace Action and others

Berkeley CA Rally
Wed Jan 11, 12 pm PT UC Berkeley Law School press conference

Cleveland, OH Close US Torture Facility Rally
Wed Jan 11, 4 pm CT
Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building
Facebook link

Honolulu HI Rally
Wed Jan 11, 4 pm Hawaii Time
Thomas Square @ King/Ward intersection
Organized by Veterans for Peace Hawai`i, World Can't Wait Hawai`i

21st Anniversary Virtual Rally: Building our Power to Close Guantánamo
Wed Jan 11, 4 - 5:30 pm ET

RSVP and get link

Guantanamo Survivors Fund
Witness Against Torture is proud to be part of the Guantanamo Survivors Fund. In our first 8 months, we have:

Raised more than $40,000 from donors in the US and around the world to help survivors
Interviewed ten survivors in need
Distributed or approved grants to provide:
- Six months’ rent and utilities for three survivors and their families;
- School fees so a survivor’s daughter can attend kindergarten;
- Prosthetic supplies for an amputee;
- Down payment for a used car so a disabled survivor can make a living;
- Travel and medical costs to prevent a survivor from going blind;
- Help in purchase of an apartment for a survivor’s widow and her children;
- Rent, food, and medical expenses for a survivor who is too ill to work

We have just begun: hundreds of Guantanamo survivors still need our help. There has never been a better time to give and to share our appeal with friends, because a generous donor will MATCH all donations received or mailed by December 31st!

We finally have a way to help former Guantanamo detainees who suffered for so many years in prison only to find themselves desperate and abandoned after their transfer. You can help the Guantanamo Survivors Fund show more men in need that they are not alone.

Donate to support our work

Please consider a donation to help fund WAT's expenses. We are completely volunteer-driven and run. We have no paid staff; all of the money you donate goes to funding the work we do together.
C lick here to donate to WAT.
Click here to donate to Guantanamo Survivors Fund.

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

Copyright © 2022 Witness Against Torture, All rights reserved.

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