Rally in front of Oakland office of CDCR
(California Dept. of Corrections & Rehab)
Wednesday, Sept. 25, 10-11am
1515 Clay Street, Oakland, CA
Video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/closegitmo
Photos from Lynn Mac Michael
Protest Force-feeding in Guantánamo
& Court Order authorizing Force-feeding of future California prisoner hunger strikers
Rally includes Nasal Tube Feeding of US Faster Andrés Thomas Conteris, on day-80 in Solidarity with California Hunger Strikers and Force-fed Guantánamo Hunger Strikers
Amplify the voice of the California Prisoners in solidarity with hunger strikers in Guantánamo!
Solidarity with CA Prisoner Hunger Strike (July 8-Sep 5) and their 5 Core Demands!
Speakers include:
Daniel Ellsberg, Whistleblower of Pentagon Papers
Joanna Macy, author/activist
Murphy Bey, Jr., ex-Prisoner, Pelican Bay SHU
Contact:
Andrés Thomas Conteris, 202-232-1999; andres@
Amutabi Haines, 510-274-3874;
WHERE: Elihu M. Harris State of California Office Building
1515 Clay Str., Oakland, CA (12th Street BART, Oakland, Betw. 15th and 16th on Clay)
WHEN: Wednesday, September 25, 10am-11noon
WHAT: Speakers who denounce U.S. sponsored torture at home and abroad. Includes a nasogastric feeding of US activist depicting force-feeding of Guantánamo prisoners and threat to force-feed future California prisoners on hunger strike
WHO: CloseGitmo.net, Occupy Oscar Grant, School of the Americas Watch, Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas, Code Pink, Veterans For Peace, Peaceworkers USA, Stop Mass Incarceration, World Can’t Wait, Office of the Americas, Witness Against Torture, Nuremberg Actions.
OAKLAND, CA – CloseGitmo.net organizer Andrés Thomas Conteris — on day 80 of his fast in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners in Guantánamo and Pelican Bay (who recently suspended their hunger strike after 60 days on Sept 5) — will undergo a nasogastric intubation and feeding in front of the State of California Office Building in Oakland, headquarters for the Bay Area CDCR, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Wednesday, September 25 from 10am-11am.
Conteris will underscore the brutality of force-feeding, to which dozens of men at Guantánamo have been subjected since a new hunger strike began last February. The American Medical Association, the United Nations, and Senators John McCain and Diane Feinstein have all condemned force-feeding. The tube feeding of Conteris will be webcast live at http://CloseGitmo.net
“Force-feeding is torture,” says Conteris, a 52-year-old man from California who has lost 56 pounds (losing 5 lbs./week) since starting his strike on July 8th, when prisoners in Pelican Bay, CA started theirs. “I wish to make visible what the U.S. government is perpetrating against
Gitmo hunger striking prisoners twice daily and that the State of California has a judge’s order authorizing them to torture their prisoners with force-feeding should they recommence another hunger strike.”
“Indefinite detention, prolonged solitary confinement, and force-feeding,” says CodePink co-founder, Medea Benjamin, “are all ways our government brutalizes people at the State and Federal levels. They must stop, and Guantánamo must close.”
Conteris began his fast the same day prisoners at Pelican Bay, California and elsewhere in the state began a hunger strike to protest the use of extended solitary confinement and indefinite detention in the Security Housing Units (SHUs) of CA prisons. On September 5, 2013, the prisoners in Pelican Bay and other facilities suspended their 60-day hunger strike, after achieving increased public attention to the practice of solitary confinement and pledges from California lawmakers to hold hearings on conditions in the state’s prisons. Their five core demands remain firm in spite of suspending the hunger strike.
This rally follows a similar one in front of the White House on Sept 6, 2013. Press coverage of that action can be found here:
Speakers at the Rally inclued:
- Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers Whistleblower
- Joanna Macy, author, spiritual activist
- Murphy Bey, Jr., ex-prisoner of Pelican Bay SHU, only DC resident in California SHU
- Cynthia Papermaster, Code Pink, fasted for 84 days on 300 cal/day in solidarity with Closing Guantánamo and 5 Core Demands
- Spokesperson from Stop Mass Incarceration
- David Hartsough, Peaceworkers and CloseGitmo.net
distributing 2.7 million orange ribbons to promote strategies to close Guantánamo and promote the 5 Core Demands of the California prisoners’ hunger strike (July 8-Sept. 5, 2013). Contributions of $1.00 or more can be made at OrangeRibbons.net
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: Major Obama Supporters Call for Action to Close Guantánamo as Promised February 13, 2014
- Articles: Torture Began at Guantánamo with Bush's Presidential Memo 12 Years Ago February 7, 2014
- Articles: GTMO Clock Marks 250 Days Since President Obama's Promise to Resume Releasing Prisoners from Guantánamo; 77 Cleared Men Still Held January 30, 2014
