campaign to shut down guantanamo

last night, i attended the monthly clarification of thought event at the nearby dorothy day catholic worker house. this month, members of the NYC cw and Witness Against Torture campaign were guest speakers.

i love going to the cw - there is such a refreshing spirit that pervades the house - one of genuine community and hospitality, one of love and openness to all people who enter. there was a healthy mix of seasoned activists with time-worn faces and energetic, bright-eyed young adults (which is not always the case at peace events!) and all were eager to dialogue over coffee and day-old, begged desserts from a local bakery. i need to hang out with these folks more often - it truly does rejuvenate my soul.

the campaign members opened the chat with some poems written by guantanamo detainees (read a few here). the poems were etched on styrofoam cups and given to the lawyers working on their cases and speak about justice, hopelessness, and their previous lives with their families.

the poems were read in order to connect the audience in a human way with the 270 current detainees, most of who are likely innocent (most released detainees have been without charge and the u.s. plans to release all but 60 detainees without trial - after holding them in awful conditions for years and allowing them to endure near starvation, beatings, and sexual and religious abuse). witness against toture formed to act in solidarity with these men (and boys) and take a stand against the torture they've endured.
the organization formed by a gathering of 25 catholic workers in an nyc apartment in 2005, 4 years after the first detainees were brought the guantanamo. the campaign made a pilgrimage from santiago, cuba to guantanamo and fasted held daily mass at the gates for 4 days.

the group's current campaign is 100 days to close guantanamo, which will involve a 9-day fast from jan 11 (the 7th anniversary of the arrival of detainees to the prison, as well as the Baptism of Our Lord - the beginning of Jesus' public ministry) until the inauguration, to help obama remember his promise: "I intend to close Guantanamo and I will follow through on that... I'm going to make sure that we don't toture."

there will be vigils to remember the innocent men and their families (particularly the 30 on hunger strike and 25 that are begin force fed) and direct action to raise awareness about the situation (the men do not have legal protection under the geneva conventions). 80 people are participating in the fast (including iraqi war veteran and consciencious objector camilo mejia - a really friendly and humble guy, at the cw last night too, imprisoned for a year for his conscience), and another 12+ groups from around the country are coming to participate in lobbying and public witness during the 100 first days of obama's presidency.

i plan on participating in the campaign activities in a variety of ways, and you can too, no matter where around the country you are. visit their website... and pray that the u.s. would have the courage to end this human rights atrocity.