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Guantánamo — The decade-long, global struggle to close Guantánamo has roared to new life, inspired by the hunger strike that began in February 2013 of men at the prison demanding an end to their indefinite detention.

In the United States, there have been vigils, rallies, calls to the White House and Pentagon, citizen petitions, direct actions, newspaper editorials, solidarity fasts and open-ended hunger strikes insisting that President Obama fulfill his promise of five years ago to close the prison. Through attorneys, news of this activism has made it to the hunger striking men, adding to the hope that sustains them through their difficult and courageous sacrifice.

Pressured by the prisoners’ hunger strike and a public outcry, Obama restated his goal of shuttering Guantánamo on May 23, 2013.

We have heard empty promises from the President before and to date this latest statement continues the pattern of words without action. We know the struggle ahead is a tough one.  We also know that we can and must do this: close Guantanamo in a fair and just way and begin making amends to those persecuted by US detention policy.

U.S.-sponsored torture at all levels — The abuse of prisoners in government detention centers at the local, county, state, federal and international levels is pervasive. When the abuse escalated to horrific scales it is defined as torture and is carried out in very specific ways: a) extended solitary confinement, b) indefinite detention, c) physical violence and psychological trauma, and d) forced-feeding when prisoners resort to hunger strikes.  CloseGitmo.net works to link anti-Guantánamo activism with a campaign to end U.S.-sponsored torture wherever it manifests and supports prisoner protests to resist this inhuman treatment.

Pelican Bay – In California, the two statewide prisoner hunger strikes in 2011 paved the way for the one initiated July 8, 2013 by 30,000 inmates.  The current hunger strike seeks to address injustice in all of the 33 state prisons and is inspired by the 5 Core Demands of prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of Pelican Bay: 1) End group punishment, 2) Abolish the debriefing (snitching) policy 3) End long-term solitary confinement, 4) Provide adequate food, and 5) Establish constructive educational and religious programs.

Forced-feeding hunger strikers is torture – When prisoners decide to risk long-term physical damage or death, they see it as their final recourse in order to send the strongest possible message about the torture they endure.  The response of authorities to the shrinking bodies of hunger strikers in Guantánamo Bay and Pelican Bay has been to engage in yet another form of torture: forced-feeding.  The Pentagon and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) claim that prisoners lives must be preserved even without their consent.  At the same time, they ignore the conditions leading to prisoners taking the desperate measure of refusing to eat.

CloseGitmo.net is: a collaborative effort of individuals and organizations coming together to increase the power of our shared struggle to repudiate the practice of U.S.-sanctioned torture at all levels. Our focus is to close Guantánamo and to support the core demands of the Pelican Bay prisoners and other prisoners on hunger strike with them. We seek to strengthen collaboration among all groups and individuals who share our goals and to maximize our mission bringing justice and human rights to victims of torture.

CloseGitmo.net will:

• educate about the reality in Guantánamo and Pelican Bay by posting the best, up-to-date reporting from the prison and by disseminating relevant policy and legal developments

• publicize and report on rallies, vigils, direct actions, public lectures, and other events aimed at closing Guantánamo and/or resisting prison abuse, especially in Pelican Bay

• highlight the heroic actions of the solidarity hunger strikers committed to refusing food (or dramatically reducing caloric intake) in solidarity with the men at Guantánamo and Pelican Bay

• provide specific action suggestions including letter-writing campaigns, rolling fasts, call-ins, and social media outreach

• build mutual solidarity among movements to close Guantánamo and those working to stop torture in US detention centers, especially Pelican Bay.  Engage in creative actions that raise consciousness such as the OrangeRibbons.net campaign

• offer accurate, high-quality information to media reporting on our efforts

• provide links to and RSS feeds from organizations working to close Guantánamo and end abuses in US prisons, especially Pelican Bay

• profile poetry, songs, writings, visual art, videos and other materials to educate, inspire, and sustain us in our vital work

• help connect anti-torture activists in the United States with those around the world

• publicize and support each others’ work, while strengthening our collective bond!

Join us - Like all collaborations, CloseGitmo.net depends for its success on the passion and dedication of its contributors.  Like all websites, it needs to be used and shared widely to make a difference.

Together we can make it a vital tool in the struggle for justice and resist torture at home and abroad.

In Solidarity,

- Arlington West Santa Monica

- Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement – NY

- Close Guantánamo.org

- Code Pink

- Fast for the Earth

- Global Exchange

- The Jericho Movement

- The Justice Campaign

- The London Guantánamo Campaign

- Meta Peace Team: “Pursuing peace through active nonviolence”

- The Metta Center for Nonviolence

- National Religious Campaign Against Torture

- No more Guantánamos

- Nonviolence International

- Nuremberg Actions

- Office of the Americas

- Peaceworkers USA

- Save Shaker

- Stop Mass Incarceration

- Witness Against Torture

- The World Can’t Wait

- Veterans for Peace

 

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