Ten Years of Guantánamo: Andy Worthington Visits the US to Campaign for the Closure of the Prison, January 5-15, 2012

30.12.11

January 11, 2012 is a profoundly depressing anniversary — marking ten years since the Bush administration established its “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and decided that those who ended up in US custody would not be screened to ascertain whether or not they were combatants, and would be sent to Guantánamo to be held without rights.

To mark this bleak occasion, Andy Worthington, investigative journalist, author of The Guantánamo Files and co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo,” is visiting the US for 12 days, with the support of The World Can’t Wait and the Center for Constitutional Rights, taking part in events in New York, Washington DC., San Francisco and Chicago.

171 of the 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo throughout its long, dark history are still held, three years after Barack Obama became President and promised to close it within a year, even though 89 of them have been cleared for release. The President’s vacillations, and lack of courage, as well as the unprincipled obstructions of cynical or cowardly lawmakers, and of paranoid right-wing judges have ensured that no one has left Guantanamo alive in the last year and to guarantee that the prison will remain open — and these 171 men will be held forever — without concerted action by these with the determination to bring to an end the toxic legacy of the Bush administration.

These events are listed below, and are free unless otherwise indicated. For further information, or to book Andy for TV or radio appearances, please contact Debra Sweet, National Director, the World Can’t Wait, or contact Andy Worthington.

Thursday January 5, 7.30 – 9 pm: “Building a Movement to Close Guantánamo and End All Unjust Detentions”: Panel discussion with Pardiss Kebriaei and Leili Kashani of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and other speakers including Andy Worthington.
The Brecht Forum, 451 West Street (West Side Highway) between Bank & Bethune Streets, New York, NY 10014.

This event is organized by the Center for Constitutional Rights, and co-sponsored by The Brecht Forum, Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR), and the Pakistan Solidarity Network. The evening will seek to “situate GTMO as a deeply important but single piece of a larger unjust US detention system,” and “to deepen and broaden alliances to finally close Guantánamo and build a movement against all unjust US detentions,” and speakers include Pardiss Kebriaei and Leili Kashani of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Faisal Hashmi of the Muslim Justice Initiative, Laura Whitehorn, former political prisoner and senior editor at POZ Magazine, Silky Shah, Field Director at Detention Watch Network and co-producer of Asia Pacific Forum, Anna Brown of Witness Against Torture, and Guantánamo expert Andy Worthington, who will be flying in from London at the start of a 12-day visit.
For further information, and to register for this event, see the Brecht Forum website. Admission is on a sliding scale: $6/$10/$15. Also see the CCR website, and the Facebook page.

Saturday January 7, 4 – 6 pm: “Ten Years of Guantánamo, Ten Years of Injustice: A Conversation with Andy Worthington.”
Revolution Books, 146 West 26th Street (between 6th & 7th Ave.), New York, NY 10001.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, Andy Worthington will be discussing the continuing injustice of Guantánamo, and strategies for campaigning for the prison’s closure. Andy has been at the forefront of the campaign to close Guantánamo for six years, since he first began researching the stories of the prisoners for his book The Guantánamo Files, and he will be discussing his research, writing and campaigning, and, in particular, his work in 2011 as a media partner with WikiLeaks for the release of classified military files relating to the Guantánamo prisoners, and his ongoing 70-part, million-word series, “The Complete Guantánamo Files.”
For further information, see the Revolution Books website.

Sunday January 8, 4 – 7 pm: “Dance and Discussion to Shut Down Guantánamo,” with Andy Worthington and American Creative Dance.
3-D Laboratories, 29 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10010.

In a fundraising event for The World Can’t Wait, Andy Worthington discusses Guantánamo and his work for the last six years, including his relationship with The World Can’t Wait, and the artists of American Creative Dance, under the direction of Nancy Vining Van Ness, show some of the prisoners’ stories through poetry, theatre, music and dance. Hosted by Gbenga Akkinagbe, Sharon Pavlovich and Sunsara Taylor. In addition, celebrated blogger The Talking Dog will be calling in to provide support while on the road.
Suggested Contribution: $50. Donations can be made tax-deductible to support The World Can’t Wait’s educational work to end torture and shut down Guantánamo.
For further information, please contact Debra Sweet, National Director, The World Can’t Wait. Also see The World Can’t Wait’s event page here.

Tuesday January 10, 12.15 – 1.45 pm: “Ten Years of Guantánamo: Will It Ever Close?” Panel discussion with Col. Morris Davis, Tom Wilner and Andy Worthington, plus special guest Congressman Jim Moran.
New America Foundation, 1899 L Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20036.

This high-profile event, hosted by the New America Foundation, features Congressman Jim Moran, who has been one of the few legislators brave enough to call for the closure of Guantánamo in Congress, Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor for the Military Commissions at Guantánamo, who resigned in 2007, in protest at the planned use of evidence obtained through the use of torture, and is now the executive director of the Crimes of War Project, Tom Wilner, Counsel of Record for the Guantánamo prisoners in their cases before the Supreme Court in 2004 and 2008, and freelance investigative journalist and Guantánamo expert Andy Worthington.
For further information, please contact Andrew Lebovich at the New America Foundation.

Tuesday January 10, 5.30 – 7.30 pm: Screening of “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” plus Q&A with Andy Worthington, Tom Wilner, Mari Newman and Darold Killmer.
Busboys and Poets, The Cullen Room, 5th & K (1025 5th Street, NW), Washington, D.C.

For the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, director Polly Nash has produced a new one-hour edit of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington), featuring new commentary by Tom Wilner. For this special screening, Tom Wilner and Andy Worthington are joined by Mari Newman and Darold Killmer, attorneys for five Yemeni prisoners still held at Guantánamo.
This event is organized by The World Can’t Wait.
For further information, please contact Debra Sweet, National Director, The World Can’t Wait. Also see the Busboys and Poets website, and see the map here.

Wednesday January 11, 12 – 2 pm: “10 Years Too Many: National Day of Action Against Guantánamo,” Washington, D.C.
To mark this bleak anniversary, dozens of campaigning groups — including the Center for Constitutional Rights, Witness Against Torture, Amnesty International USA, The World Can’t Wait, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Physicians for Human Rights and September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows — will rally at the White House at 12 noon, where speakers will demand the closure of Guantánamo, and an end to indefinite detention and unfair trials. After the rally at the White House, a human chain will be created stretching from the White House to the Capitol. For further information, see Andy Worthington’s page, and the pages of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Witness Against Torture, Amnesty International USA and The World Can’t Wait.

Friday January 13, 12 noon – 2 pm: “Ten Years of Guantánamo: A Discussion with Andy Worthington and Jason Leopold.”
UC Hastings Law School, Louis B. Mayer Lounge (auditorium), 198 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA, 94102.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, Andy Worthington will be paying a flying visit to the Bay Area to take part in a freewheeling interview at UC Hastings Law School in San Francisco with Jason Leopold, lead Investigative reporter at Truthout, discussing Guantánamo, the Bush administration’s torture program, the victims of torture, including Abu Zubaydah, and the failures of the Obama administration to close Guantánamo or to hold anyone accountable for the Bush administration’s crimes.
For further information, please contact Curt Wechsler or Stephanie Tang of The World Can’t Wait, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, and see the map here.

Saturday January 14, 1 – 4 pm: Screening of “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” plus Q&A with Andy Worthington, Candace Gorman, Gary A. Isaac, Andy Moss and Debra Sweet.
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 25 E. Pearson Street, Chicago, IL 60611, Room 1040 (Ceremonial Courtroom on the 10th floor).

For his first ever visit to Chicago, Andy Worthington will attend a screening of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington), and a Q&A sessions afterwards, with Guantánamo attorneys Candace Gorman, Len Goodman and Andy Moss, and Debra Sweet, National Director, The World Can’t Wait.
This event is organized by Chicago World Can’t Wait, with the support of Amnesty International, Midwest Antiwar Mobilization, National Lawyer’s Guild (Loyola Law), National Lawyers Guild, Chicago Chapter, Public Interest Law Society and the Muslim Law Student Association.
For further information, please contact Jay Becker of Chicago World Can’t Wait. Also see the Chicago World Can’t Wait website, and the Facebook page.

Note: For further information, and to sign up to a new movement to close Guantánamo, please visit the new website, “Close Guantánamo,” which you can join here, and also please sign a new White House petition on the “We the People” website calling for the closure of Guantánamo. 25,000 signatures are needed by February 6.

Andy Worthington is the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to my RSS feed (and I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube). Also see my definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, updated in June 2011, “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” a 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011, and details about the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed by Polly Nash and Andy Worthington, and available on DVD here — or here for the US). Also see my definitive Guantánamo habeas list and the chronological list of all my articles, and, if you appreciate my work, feel free to make a donation.

40 Responses

  1. Andy Worthington says...

    On Facebook, Willy Bach wrote:

    Andy, wonderful timing. It should be interesting to see how many candidates want to close Guantanamo (not enough to constitute a democracy, I’m afraid). Good time to raise the issue all the same.

  2. Andy Worthington says...

    Willy Bach wrote:

    Shared and tweeted, Andy. Good luck with the tour.

  3. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Willy, for the supportive words. There are some of us planning to use the anniversary as a springboard for campaigning throughout the year. More info on this soon!

  4. Andy Worthington says...

    Kevi Brannelly wrote:

    glad to have you with us Andy–no stronger voice out there! kev

  5. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Kevi. Looking forward to seeing you!

  6. Andy Worthington says...

    Barbi Montano wrote:

    ‎Andy Worthington paid indefinite attention for everyone this year.

  7. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Barbi. I love the comment!

  8. Andy Worthington says...

    Diana Murtaugh Coleman wrote:

    As always, thanks to Andy Worthington for his tireless work. Looking forward.

  9. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you, Diana. That’s very much appreciated.

  10. Andy Worthington says...

    Asif Rana wrote:

    Good luck Andy. I think your campaign is brilliant.

  11. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks, Asif. That’s very kind!

  12. Andy Worthington says...

    Asif Rana wrote:

    We’ve just allowed ourselves to accept the unacceptable, to believe any old tosh fed to us, by those who would have us stay quiet, and to fear to speak out, in case we are tarred with the same brush. It’s horrific. Thanks to you and others like you, fighting the good fight. A few words from me is the least I can do!

  13. Andy Worthington says...

    Very well put. Thanks again.

  14. Mark Erickson says...

    Chicago on a Saturday is probably the best shot I’ll ever have, isn’t it? I’m going to have to run this by the family. Maybe.

    When was your first Gitmo article? Can you link it?

  15. Robert Palmer says...

    Thank you Andy for the important work you have been doing to help reveal the history of Guantánamo and the stories of the victimized detainees. Anticipate being in Washington, DC on the eleventh. peace and hugs and civil liberties for all

  16. Andy Worthington says...

    Hi Mark and Robert,
    Good to hear from you both. Hope to see you in D.C., Robert, and to see you in Chicago, Mark, if that can be arranged.
    And if I understand your question correctly, Mark, and you’re asking about the first article on Guantanamo that I wrote, it’s here: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2007/05/31/suicide-at-guantanamo-the-story-of-abdul-rahman-al-amri/
    However, I did previously touch on related topics (the Abu Ghraib scandal, and Dick Cheney, for example) in a number of book reviews for the Nth Position website. I cross-posted one of these, a refview of Mark Danner’s “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror,” as the first article on my site in 2006: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2006/04/15/abu-ghraib/
    And here’s the archive of other book reviews, beginning in 2004:
    http://nthposition.com/author.php?authid=295

  17. Andy Worthington says...

    Billi Jo Larmore wrote:

    ‎Andy I would have loved to see Kansas City on this list…..what would it take?

  18. Andy Worthington says...

    Hi Billi Jo,
    That would have been great, although I don’t know how I can get out to Kansas City. If I arrange another visit to the US this year, the best bet would be to take a short hop from the East or West coast. If you know of any groups that would pay the airfare, I’d be happy to oblige!

  19. Andy Worthington says...

    Aleksey Penskiy wrote:

    When international law is silent weapon begins to speak. Andy you are saying instead of international law now, thank you for this

  20. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you, Aleksey, for the kind and supportive words.

  21. Andy Worthington says...

    George Kenneth Berger wrote:

    I’m digging and sharing this, Andy. Good luck with your visit.

  22. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you, George, and my best wishes for you in 2012!

  23. Andy Worthington says...

    Adeba Khan wrote:

    Good luck Andy…pray the tour goes well…ur such an inspiration!

  24. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you, Adeba. That’s very kind of you.

  25. 2012-01-04 #WikiLeaks News, Press Coverage of WikiLeaks Releases and Updated Events | wikileaks says...

    […] 11 marks 10 years since Guantanamo Bay was established. A rally will take place in Washington DC to demand its closure and an end to indefinite detention and […]

  26. Morgaine "D'Clegg says...

    Please????? HELP US????? Our minds are prisoners, and our bodies are owned too. This is a world-wide crime. My name is Morgaine D’Clegg, and I am a “Targeted Individual,” one among thousands. Daily, we are subjected to no touch, slow kill torture right here is the US. Experimented on, (why they no longer need to use chimpanzees, I mean why bother…they brazenly use humans) raped while somehow induced to sleep, only to awaken with bruises, and knowing something terrible has happened. I am so overwhelmed, they are in my car, my cell, my laptop. They have stolen my medical records, falsified them too. Crazy? Go onto my Facebook page, where I have just found the courage to reach out. Someone in the know, ask Anonymous to help us too. Anyone??? I have been an activist most of my life, I campaigned for Ron Paul first time around, I am here to help too, but they are methodically destroying our lives and bodies, so that we are barely able to survive, let alone participate in making change. I am you, and you are me. I now live in my car, driving constantly, trying to find relief, in an attempt to dodge the electronic torture. We need to learn/know counter-measures, we need support/hope. While we are still alive, glean from us what you can. Do not let us die in vain. The US is a country, where Guantanamo is right here on it’s own soil. We do not get help here. Show us how to protect our cell phones, and computers so they do not know every move we make. 24/7 in our heads, lives. Pass this along, tell others, please reach out to us?

  27. 2012-01-05 #WikiLeaks News and Updated Events | wikileaks says...

    […] take place in Washington DC, with the presence of Guantanamo historian and WikiLeaks media partner Andy Worthington who will also be attending other rallies across the country. Similar protests are planned in Canada […]

  28. 2012-01-06 #WikiLeaks News: Scandal in Denmark over Torture of Iraqi Prisoners; Free #Assange Now Campaign; Other News | wikileaks says...

    […] take place in Washington DC, with the presence of Guantanamo historian and WikiLeaks media partner Andy Worthington who will also be attending other rallies across the country. Similar protests are planned in Canada […]

  29. 2012-01-07 #WikiLeaks News: 400 days of Financial Blockade; Updated #Assange Support Campaigns; Other News | wikileaks says...

    […] take place in Washington DC, with the presence of Guantanamo historian and WikiLeaks media partner Andy Worthington who will also be attending other rallies across the country. Similar protests are planned in Canada […]

  30. 2012-01-08 #WikiLeaks News and Recent Press Coverage of WikiLeaks Releases | wikileaks says...

    […] take place in Washington DC, with the presence of Guantanamo historian and WikiLeaks media partner Andy Worthington who will also be attending other rallies across the country. Similar protests are planned in Canada […]

  31. 2012-01-09 #WikiLeaks News: Judge silenced due to US pressure; Australia’s lack of Consular Support for Julian #Assange | wikileaks says...

    […] take place in Washington DC, with the presence of Guantanamo historian and WikiLeaks media partner Andy Worthington who will also be attending other rallies across the country. Similar protests are planned in Canada […]

  32. Guantánamo Prisoners Stage Peaceful Protest and Hunger Strike on 10th Anniversary of the Opening of the Prison « roger hollander says...

    […] mounted on their behalf  by US citizens, who are gathering in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to stage a rally and march to urge the President to fulfill his broken […]

  33. Maryann T. Fox says...

    Thank you for all that you do to make this a better world. There are millions behind you, just not on the street. I am with you supporting……………………

  34. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you, Maryann. That’s very much appreciated.

  35. 2012-01-10 #WikiLeaks News: Army monitored tweets on Bradley #Manning’s Pre-trial; Other News | wikileaks says...

    […] take place in Washington DC, with the presence of Guantanamo historian and WikiLeaks media partner Andy Worthington who will also be attending other rallies across the country. Similar protests are planned in Canada […]

  36. Guantánamo Prisoners Stage Peaceful Protest and Hunger Strike on 10th Anniversary of the Opening of the Prison « Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle says...

    […] mounted on their behalf  by US citizens, who are gathering in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to stage a rally and march to urge the President to fulfill his broken […]

  37. The future discussions of Iraq in the US (C.I.) | thecommonillsbackup says...

    […] being mounted on their behalf by US citizens, who are gathering in Washington D.C. on Wednesday to stage a rally and march to urge the President to fulfill his broken […]

  38. With Right On Our Side: The Inspiring Guantánamo 10th Anniversary Protest In … | Washington D.C. Local Me.me says...

    […] to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a 12-day US tour organized by some of my great friends in the US — the activists of The World Can’t Wait, and […]

  39. Guantánamo 10th Anniversary Protest | ZananTV ZananTV says...

    […] to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as part of a 12-day US tour organized by some of my great friends in the US — the activists of The World Can’t Wait, […]

  40. 01/04/12 | This Day in WikiLeaks says...

    […] Worthington, Guantanamo Bay historian and WikiLeaks media partner, is headed to the US to campaign against Guantanamo Bay on its 10th […]

Leave a Reply

Back to the top

Back to home page

Andy Worthington

Investigative journalist, author, campaigner, commentator and public speaker. Recognized as an authority on Guantánamo and the “war on terror.” Co-founder, Close Guantánamo and We Stand With Shaker. Also, photo-journalist (The State of London), and singer and songwriter (The Four Fathers).
Email Andy Worthington

CD: Love and War

The Four Fathers on Bandcamp

The Guantánamo Files book cover

The Guantánamo Files

The Battle of the Beanfield book cover

The Battle of the Beanfield

Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion book cover

Stonehenge: Celebration & Subversion

Outside The Law DVD cover

Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo

RSS

Posts & Comments

World Wide Web Consortium

XHTML & CSS

WordPress

Powered by WordPress

Designed by Josh King-Farlow

Please support Andy Worthington, independent journalist:

Archives

In Touch

Follow me on Facebook

Become a fan on Facebook

Subscribe to me on YouTubeSubscribe to me on YouTube

The State of London

The State of London. 16 photos of London

Andy's Flickr photos

Campaigns

Categories

Tag Cloud

Abu Zubaydah Al-Qaeda Andy Worthington British prisoners Center for Constitutional Rights CIA torture prisons Close Guantanamo Donald Trump Four Fathers Guantanamo Housing crisis Hunger strikes London Military Commission NHS NHS privatisation Periodic Review Boards Photos President Obama Reprieve Shaker Aamer The Four Fathers Torture UK austerity UK protest US courts Video We Stand With Shaker WikiLeaks Yemenis in Guantanamo