Say what? Two Republican presidents – and two Democrats – hold on to the U.S. torture camp into its third decade. Saifullah Paracha, cleared for release years ago, with no charges, was finally released last week at age 75. But 35 men are left, most “cleared” but still imprisoned.
Tuesday Nov. 1, marks 7,600 days of Guantanamo’s existence. Andy Worthington and CloseGuantanamo.org ask you to take a photo with the Close Guantanamo campaign’s poster. Send it to info@closeguantanamo.org. via the Gitmo Clock website or share on social media tagging with #CloseGuantanamo.
Andy says, “In the sixteen years and eight months since I began working on Guantánamo on a full-time basis, I’ve built up an unprecedented archive of nearly 2,500 articles telling the stories of men held there, following their efforts to secure release from the prison and, in the cases of all but the 35 men still held, writing about their release, and, in some cases, their lives afterwards.”
While undergoing the horrors of illegal detention, Guantanamo prisoners managed to create artwork and show it to the outside world, even exhibiting in a NYC gallery. Then, Trump banned their artwork from leaving the prison and the Biden Administration has continued to enforce that policy. Now, former detainees are leading a campaign to free captive art from Guantánamo and have written a powerful letter to Biden. They invite you to sign on in solidarity.
Untitled (Ship in a Storm) by Sabri Al Qurashi, 2010, Courtesy of the artist