Mr. President: Keep your promise, Close Guantanamo, Now!
More than four years ago, President Barack Obama promised to close Guantanamo Prison.
It still remains open.
Earlier this week more than a hundred Human Rights activists staged a “Day of Action” demonstration in front of the White House, (and, at many other sites around the country, too), to remind him to keep his word on this important public policy, legal and moral issue. For more information click here.
A total of 166 prisoners are still being held at Guantanamo, even though 86 of them have been “cleared for release.” It is a disgrace that the 86 are still behind bars because of the lame excuse that it is supposedly “politically inconvenient” to do justice in their cases.
The Orwellian notion of indefinite detention of an individual, without charges and without a trial, is an anathema to the U.S. Constitution and a stain on the Republic. The Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves. This is the 11th anniversary of the opening of the notorious “Gitmo” prison, which was fostered by that same lawless cabal that brought us the $6 Trillion Iraq War – the “Bush-Cheney Gang.” Click here for more information.
For at least two months now, some of the inmates at Guantanamo have gone on hunger strikes to protest the worsening conditions of their confinement, which have been condemned by Amnesty International. Both the United Nations and the New York Times have called on the President to take action, now, on this Human Rights matter. For more insights on these cases, read this recent article by author Andy Worthington.
Also, check out essays by Glenn Greenwald, Norman Solomon and Steven Rosenfeld, sharply criticizing the mindset, and the repercussions to our Civil Liberties, of the “endless war on terror.”
Finally, watch Peace Activist Frank Cordaro of the Catholic Worker Community in Des Moines, Iowa, read a poem (below), titled: “Is It True?,” written by one of the Guantanamo prisoners.
For more photos click here.
Bill Hughes is an attorney, author, actor and photographer. His latest book is “Byline Baltimore.” It can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/William-Hughes/e/B00N7MGPXO/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1