I Support Closing Guantanamo

 I got this from Amnesty International:

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=519727&msource=W1401EASHR1

"The detention facilities at Guantanamo…shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order." – Barack Obama, Jan. 22, 2009


Tracy,


President Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo 5 years ago. It's still open, and even the 77 people cleared for transfer continue to languish there.

But there may be an opening. Late last year, Congress gave President Obama greater flexibility to transfer cleared detainees, thanks to pressure from Amnesty activists like you.

What is he waiting for? Tell the President to transfer the 77 cleared detainees and close Guantanamo already!

Since Obama signed the executive order five years ago:

• 4 men have died waiting for justice – including Adnan Latif, who died in Guantanamo in 8 years after he was cleared to leave.
• 155 people remain in legal limbo or subject to unfair trials. Each should either get a fair trial in federal court or be released.
• Over 100 men have gone on hunger strike to protest their unlawful, indefinite detention. One of them, Shaker Aamer, has been cleared to leave since 2007. The number of hunger strikers has reportedly risen dramatically since December.

Tell the President: Do what you promised. Close Guantanamo.

If any other country were responsible for the human rights vacuum of Guantanamo, the US government would surely condemn it.

The force feeding of hunger strikers is barbaric:

"You are…strapped into a specially made chair and having restraints put on your arms, your legs, your body and your head so you cannot move. [You have] a tube inserted into your throat that extends into your stomach, and you’re trying to resist that with the only muscles that are free – in your throat." – Constitution Project's Task Force on Detainee Treatment

At least two detainees were force-fed in a chair twice a day for close to four years. It is intensely painful.

Obama administration authorities have stopped releasing hunger strike counts to hide the extent of the protest. Shame on them.

Flood President Obama with messages: End the hypocrisy. Transfer the cleared detainees and close Guantanamo.

Let's do this,

Zeke Johnson
Director, Security & Human Rights Program
Amnesty International USA