Skip to content

Guantanamo Bay

Hunger Strike At Guantanamo Builds Movement

August 12, 2013 Staff, www.afp.com ,
Guantanamo detainees are marking six months of an unprecedented hunger strike that has trained attention on the more than 150 men held at the US military prison without charge or trial. The strike began on February 6 as a spontaneous reaction to a cell sweep in which guards allegedly mishandled copies of the Koran, but soon grew into a mass protest against the legal limbo within the walls of the War on Terror prison. The strike helped push US President Barack Obama in May to renew his four-year-old vow to shut down the controversial facility in Cuba. "The hunger strike is unprecedented in its length and its magnitude," said Captain Robert Durand, a prison spokesman. "What they want is not to be detained... That is different from previous hunger strikes. In 2005 and 2006, they were talking about the conditions of detention."

Key Creator Of Guantanamo Prison Says ‘Close It Down’

August 5, 2013 David Rose, www.dailymail.co.uk
The Pentagon official in charge of Guantanamo Bay has admitted that if he had his time over, he would have argued that the notorious detention camp should never have been built. William Lietzau, America’s Deputy Assistant Defence Secretary for Detainee Affairs, told The Mail on Sunday in an exclusive interview that Guantanamo’s detainees should have been legally designated as prisoners of war and held in Afghanistan, or if charged with crimes, taken to prisons in America. He added that the best way for President Obama to close Guantanamo would be to announce that the ‘war’ with Al Qaeda is over.

VIDEO: Weekly Acronym TV Resistance Report 002

August 3, 2013 AcronymTV, Dennis Trainor, Jr., www.popularresistance.org , , , ,
Resistance Report 002 covers X Key Score, The Bradley Manning sentencing phase, the Dream Defenders continued occupation of the Florida State Capitol Building, Hunger Strikers storm Washington and Fast Food Strikers demand a living wage.

Bringing Gitmo To The Senate

August 3, 2013 Tarak Kauff, www.warisacrime.org , ,
Speaking with the others afterwards we all felt it was a powerful experience for each of us, being able to speak for those whose voices have been essentially silenced and shut away. We spoke for prisoners in Guantanamo and for those locked up in long-term solitary here in the U.S., including two women who have been in and out of solitary since they were sixteen. Since I had the most time to speak, being chained, I also spoke about the debt of gratitude people worldwide have for Bradley Manning’s courageous actions in revealing the crimes of our government and military and also much of what we know about Guantanamo.

Photo Essay: White House Protest Against Guantanamo Bay Prison

August 1, 2013 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org
On August 1, 2013 activists came together in Washington, DC to continue ongoing protests against the Guantanamo Bay prison. The protest was held in front of the White House. Below is a photo essay that shows the protest. The photos were taken buy Ted Ted Majdosz. There are ongoing protests against Guantanamo organized by a number of groups including Witness Against Torture, CODE PINK! and Veterans for Peace, among others.

Popular Resistance Newsletter: A Smarter, Stronger Movement

August 1, 2013 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org , , , , ,
As one would expect, the opponents of change have developed strategies to undermine social movements. Steve Horn reports, based on leaked documents from the private security firm StratFor, that their strategy is to divide activists into four groups: Radicals, Idealists, Realists and Opportunists. Opportunists are in the movement for themselves and can be pulled away for their own self-interest. Realists can be convinced that transformative change is not possible and settle for what is possible. Idealists can be convinced they have the facts wrong and pulled to the Realist camp. And finally, Radicals who see a corrupt system as corrupt that requires transformation. They work to isolate and discredit this last group. Using false charges to assassinate their character is a common tactic. They divide and weaken movements to protect the status quo.

Protesters Arrested Calling For End To Solitary; End To Guantanamo

August 1, 2013 Searching for Occupy, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
Over the past months, as the prisoners who have been cleared for release from Guantanamo and yet kept after years of imprisonment and inhumane treatment, U.S. citizens have been on hunger strikes in solidarity with these prisoners. Recently, prisoners on the mainland have been fasting as their only means of protesting torturous treatment. Some of those on solidarity hunger strikes took complaints directly to the Senators in the Hart Building in D.C. to demand Justice for Gitmo, Pelican Bay, Palestine.

Photo Essay: Protest at Senate In Support of Hunger Strikers

July 30, 2013 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
Today, activists called on Congress and the White House to take action before they take their summer vacation. The protested in support of hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay and the Pelican Bay Prison in California as well as in support of people held in solitary confinement all over the world. Several of the participants in the protest are in the midst of long term solidarity hunger strikes. Six people were arrested: Tarak Kauff, Margaret Flowers, Jay Wenk, Will Thomas, Cynthia Papermaster and Crystal Zevon. The photos were taken by Ellen Davidson.

Long-term Hunger Strikers Protest At Senate Tomorrow

July 29, 2013 Staff, www.popularresistance.org ,
The action will begin with a simulated force-feeding session that shows the brutality of this process of strapping down the prisoner, shoving a feeding tube down his nose and pouring Ensure into his writhing body. There will be doctors present to explain the grueling physical repercussions of the hunger strike and force-feeding. Over 30 of the 100 hunger strikers at Guantanamo are currently being force-fed, a practice which the American Medical Association says constitutes as torture. Activists will highlight the egregious nature of this practice and demand that the Congress and President Obama address the demands of the hunger strikers for justice instead of force-feeding them.

US To Return Two Guantanamo Inmates To Algeria

July 27, 2013 Staff, www.aljazeera.com
At least 12 Algerians held at Guantanamo, a US naval base in Cuba, have been repatriated. A Pentagon spokesman said officials had carefully examined the two cases before Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel gave a green light for the release. President Barack Obama vowed to close the facility when he first took office in 2009, but four years on the military prison set up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks still holds 166 men. The vast majority of those held at Guantanamo, detained on Afghan battlefields or handed over by other countries, have never been charged or tried, and dozens have been taking part in a hunger strike in recent months.

What It Means to Starve For Freedom In Guantanamo

July 27, 2013 George Pauk, www.truth-out.org
In our unwelcome base of Guantanamo, we are now confronted with an obvious mistake and terrible situation. The American hysteria of terrorism and our war machine has given us a collection of prisoners of an undeclared war. They now confront our basic values and ethics. We have again fallen into our history of racism and religious intolerance by indefinitely impounding a class of people. Today our ethics and human rights morals are being affronted and tarnished by the collective action and inaction of our politicians and our nation's indifference. That is why activists gather to display signs, names of prisoners, prison garb, solitary and cage imprisonment conditions and demonstrate the brutal tube feeding of prisoners at Guantanamo.

Hunger Strike Getting Harder: “Be There On The 30th”

July 26, 2013 Tarak Kauff, www.popularresistance.org ,
It was just great to see Elliott in DC at the Hart Senate House for the hearing. The man is thin as a rail but still so committed, solid, upbeat and strong. It also was wonderful to be with another good friend and inspiration on many levels, Diane Wilson. Art Laffin also, who was there at the Hart and read and spoke soulfully, told me his group of Catholic Workers were praying regularly for all the hunger strikers. That meant a lot. Am trying so hard to keep from flying off the handle - the toughest element of not eating for me. The physical part is not as difficult. I still have to get through July 30, where I will almost certainly be arrested, as will others as we take a stand for the prisoners. Had planned to break the fast after that but now will wait until the evening of Aug. 4. Please try to be there on the 30th, at least in support outside if possible and inside if you are willing to not carry ID and stand firm representing a prisoner.

Families Decry Cruelty Of Indefinite Detention, Senate Holds Gitmo Hearing

July 26, 2013 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org , ,
While reportedly called to examine proposals to enable the detention center's closure, the hearing—the first of its kind since 2009—spelled more indecision and procrastination on the part of both lawmakers and President Obama—who recently professed renewed interest in closing the facility but blamed Congress for the inaction. However, as Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), noted during the hearing, "the administration could be doing more to close Guantanamo." In addition to the families who sent letters describing the impact of their loved ones' imprisonment, the five attending senators took in testimony from human rights groups, think tanks and military leaders on the long-ignored issue of how best to proceed with the facility and the 86 individuals who have been cleared for transfer yet remain in indefinite detention.

Obama Administration Skips First Gitmo Senate Hearing in Five Years

July 25, 2013 Daniel Klaidman, www.thedailybeast.com
There was no shortage of outrage at Wednesday’s Senate hearing on closing the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. Both critics and supporters of the prison repeated well-rehearsed arguments about why keeping it open—or shutting it down—would harm the national security and American interests more broadly. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who chaired the Judiciary Committee panel, argued that “every day it remains open, Guantánamo prison weakens our alliances, inspires our enemies, and calls into question our commitment to human rights.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) countered that shuttering the facility would endanger the lives of Americans.

Hearing on Guantanamo on Day 168 of Hunger Strike

July 24, 2013 Matt W. Daloisio, www.WitnessTorture.org
Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) will chair a hearing to examine the national security, fiscal and human rights implications of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The hearing will be the first on this issue since 2009 and comes two months after President Obama’s May 23rd national security speech, in which he announced new steps towards the closure of Guantanamo. The hearing will address the concerns that surround the continued indefinite detention of the 166 remaining detainees at the facility, including the 86 detainees who have been cleared for transfer. Senators will also explore how the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay undermines the moral authority of the United States in the international community and undercuts fundamental values of the American justice system, including due process and the rule of law.
«12345678910»
assetto corsa mods

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.