For Immediate Release – Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Contact: Gerry Condon 206-499-1220
Veterans Arrested At White House Guantanamo Protest
Vietnam Veteran Diane Wilson Goes Over White House Fence
A dynamic protest outside the While House against the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba came to a climax Wednesday when Vietnam veteran Diane Wilson climbed over the White House fence. Suddenly, there she was standing on the White House lawn like an apparition in her orange prison jumpsuit. Wilson was quickly surrounded by heavily armed Secret Service agents and a menacing police dog. She was arrested, charged with unlawful entry and turned over to police in Washington, DC, where she was being held in jail as of Wednesday night.
Diane Wilson, a former Army medic and member of Veterans For Peace, is on Day 57 of a water-only fast in solidarity with the hunger striking prisoners at Guantanamo. Shortly before going over the White House fence, Wilson explained “I decided to take drastic action because in this situation time is of the essence. If President Obama doesn’t hear our message and act soon, the blood of the men on hunger strike in Guantanamo will be on his hands.”
Over twenty other protesters, including two members of Veterans For Peace, were subsequently arrested when they refused to leave the sidewalk in front of the White House, where they were reading the names of 86 prisoners who have been cleared for release yet remain imprisoned at Guantanamo.
Elliott Adams, a former president of Veterans For Peace, was arrested as he attempted to chain himself to the White House fence. Surprisingly, he was released without charge, perhaps after the police learned he was on Day 41 of an open-ended hunger strike. “I just can’t sit and enjoy my life when my country is doing such terrible things to these people,” said Adams.
Veterans For Peace member Helen Jaccard was also arrested and carted off to jail by the Park Police, along with nearly 20 other protesters, including several women from Code Pink. They were released after several hours, charged with disobeying a lawful order, and given a court date of Tuesday, July 16. “I had never been arrested before,” said Jaccard, “but if you really care about justice, there comes a time when you have to be willing to cross that line. Today was that time for me.”
ACTION PHOTOS HERE, care of VFP member Ellen Davidson
The US is holding 166 prisoners at Guantanamo, over 100 of whom have been carrying on a long term hunger strike to protest indefinite detention and inhuman conditions. The US Army is force-feeding over 40 prisoners with painfully invasive metal-tipped tubes forced through their nose and into their stomachs, a procedure that is widely considered to be torture. Several prisoners are in the hospital in critical condition.
Tarak Kauff, who serves on the Board of Directors of Veterans For Peace, has fasted for 19 days. “The conditions at Guantanamo continue to be horrifying and barbaric,” said Kauff. “President Obama, who once said ‘under my administration the United States does not torture,’ could stop this with one phone call – immediately. Instead, the President, the U.S. military establishment, and Congress display more inhumanity, more cruelty and indifference to human suffering with each passing day.”
Contact hunger striker Elliott Adams, 518-441-2697 or by email at [email protected]
To interview the Veterans For Peace hunger strikers, contact Gerry Condon at 206-499-1220
For more information, go to www.CloseGitmo.net, www.witnesstorture.org and www.veteransforpeace.org.
Organized locally. Recognized nationally. Exposing the true costs of war since 1985.
VETERANS FOR PEACE
NATIONAL OFFICE: 216 S. Meramec Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63105
PHONE: (314) 725-6005 FAX: (314) 227-1981 E-MAIL: [email protected]
www.veteransforpeace.org
by 
Hunger Striker's Blog
U.S. Faster in Solidarity w/Gitmo & Pelican Bay Prisoners
Foreground: EMT prepares the tool for the nasal intubation. Background: U.S. Embassy, Buenos Aires, Argentina Middleground:...agony awaits.
The feeding demo is extremely painful, yet it is done with consent. The long-term solidarity fast continues with nasogastric nourishment in front of U.S. governmental symbols of power. The twice-daily force-feeding of Gitmo hunger strikers is nonconsensual and therefore real torture by the standards sponsored by U.S. taxpayers and authorized by members of Congress who just raised the debt ceiling to nearly $17 trillion. President Obama's actions continue to belie his empty words "Close Guantánamo." As Commander-in-Chief, he could easily order an end to what the Pentagon refuses to call "forced-feeding." The force-feeding is premeditated relentless forced penetration of plastic into their innermost sacred cavities !
Andrés Thomas Conteris - fasted on water and coconut water with vitamin and electrolyte supplements. Solidarity fast began July 8, 2013 with 30,000 hunger striking California prisoners urging fulfillment of 5 Core Demands of the Pelican Bay supermax prisoners. Force-feeding protests began Sept. 6 & Sept. 25 in front of the White House & later in front of the Oakland Office of CA Dept of Corrections and Rehab (CDCR) to depict how prisoners in Guantánamo are tortured with force-feeding twice-daily and how CA prisoners as future hunger strikers have been threatened with a court order authorizing force-feeding. On Oct 4 and Oct 8 he was tube-fed in front of the U.S. Embassies in Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Oct 15 a similar protest took place in Santiago, Chile. On Friday, Oct 18 the feeding protest returns to Washington, DC outside a Federal Court hearing on the lawsuit challenging force-feeding in Guantánamo. He is now on a maintenance fast losing about 1 pound per week, unlike the 5 pounds/week the first 11 weeks. In January 2014 with the anniversary of Guantánamo on Jan. 11, the force feeding protests will recommence. Please spread the word.
U.S. Hunger Strikers who have suspended their fast
Diane Wilson - Water only 58 days (lost 48 lbs). Diane, co-founder of CodePink and member of Veterans for Peace, suspended her hunger strike on June 27, 2013 after detention following her arrest for scaling the White House fence the day before. She faced a jury trial in DC District Court on Sept. 5th, 2013.
S. Brian Willson - Suspended Hunger Strike on June 10, 2013 after 31 days on 300cal/day, when a car accidentally hit him. Supporters continue a vigil with a rolling fast, in Portland, OR.
Elliott Adams - Went 80 days on 300 cal/day from May 18, to August 4, 2013 losing 45 lbs. He is past President of Veterans for Peace.
Tarak Kauff - Ended fast on August 4, 2013 after 58 days on 300 cal/day since June 7. He lost 29 lbs. On Board of Directors for Veterans for Peace.
Cynthia Papermaster - After 84 days on 300 cal/day, Cynthia suspended her hunger strike on Sep. 6 which began June 15, 2013. Code Pink member, lost 35 lbs. The transfer of two Algerian prisoners on Aug. 29, 2013, inspired her to suspend her fast.
Collaborative of CloseGitmo.net Organizations
- Campaign for Alternatives to
- Meta Peace Team: "Pursuing peace
- Metta Center for Nonviolence
- NRCAT
Daily Updates
- Articles: Guantánamo: Where Being Cleared for Release Means Nothing January 26, 2014
- Articles: Video: Washington D.C. Protest on the 12th Anniversary of the Opening of Guantánamo January 16, 2014
- Articles: Join Us in Washington D.C. on Jan. 11 to Tell President Obama, "Close Guantánamo Now!" January 6, 2014
