Photos and Report: Coordinated Protests for the Release of “The Guantánamo 20”, and the Closure of the Prison, in London and Washington, D.C.

17.2.23

The coordinated protests for the closure of Guantánamo in London and Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2023.

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On Wednesday, February 15, campaigners in London and Washington, D.C. held their first coordinated monthly protest calling for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, and, specifically, for the release of 20 men (out of the 34 men still held), who have long been approved for release, but who are still held because of a lack of urgency on the part of the US government when it comes to securing their freedom.

I wrote about the plight of the 20 men here, when Majid Khan was released from Guantánamo and resettled in Belize, eleven months after his military commission sentence came to an end, when I noted that, while it was, of course, just and appropriate that Khan had been freed and resettled, because the US government was legally required to freedom at the end of his sentence, it was unforgivable that the Biden administration is dragging its heels when it comes to releasing the 20 other men still held who have been approved for release, because the decisions to release them were taken by administrative review processes that carry no legal weight.

As I stated at the time, “Until they are freed, the message the US government is sending to these 20 men, and to the world, is that it is easier to resettle from Guantánamo someone convicted of terrorism but demonstrably remorseful than it is to resettle someone never charged with a crime at all.”

I followed up on these reports with another article featuring an infographic showing quite how long these 20 men have been waiting since high-level government review processes approved ten for release, revealing, shockingly, that while four men have been held for a shorter time than Khan was after his sentence ended (337 days), the 16 others have been waiting for far longer — as of February 10, between 371 days and 638 days for the men approved for release under President Biden, 805 days for the one man approved for release at the end of the Trump presidency, and 4,767 days for three outliers, approved for release in January 2010.

For the coordinated protest on February 15, I built on the dedication of the UK Guantánamo Network, which consists of various Amnesty International groups, Close Guantánamo and other groups and individuals, who have been holding monthly vigils in London since last September (mostly in Parliament Square, but, in November, outside the US Embassy), asking Witness Against Torture members and Close Guantánamo supporters in the Washington, D.C. area to join us for the first in a series of ongoing coordinated protests.

In Parliament Square in London, we held up individual posters of the 20 men approved for release, as well as my poster of the 20 men, and my infographic showing how long they have been held since being approved for release, while in Washington, D.C., campaigners met by the Capitol with banners calling for the closure of the prison and also for “Justice for Guantánamo Survivors,” with reference to the admirable work being undertaken by the Guantánamo Survivors Fund, which raises money for former prisoners resettled in third countries and struggling to survive, having been abandoned by their former captors.

Photos from both vigils are posted below, and next month, when the coordinated vigils take place on Wednesday March 8, this new initiative will be growing in strength and becoming truly global. Campaigners in New York, Mexico City and Brussels have already confirmed that they will take part, and I anticipate that others will also be involved. Please do get in touch if you want to take part!

As it will be International Women’s Day on March 8, we’re also hoping to get statements from female family members of the prisoners (mothers, wives, daughters), explaining the impact of being separated from their loved ones for so long, as they continue to be held in a prison where they are allowed no family visits (even if their family members could afford to get to Guantánamo), and can only communicate with their families via Skype calls arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

I hope you will join us for the global coordinated vigil for the closure of Guantánamo on March 8!

Campaigners with the UK Guantánamo Network call for the closure of the prison outside the House of Parliament on February 15, 2023 (Photo: Andy Worthington).
Campaigners call for the closure of Guantánamo outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2023, in a coordinated vigil with the one taking place in London.
Campaigners call for the closure of Guantánamo outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on February 15, 2023, in a coordinated vigil with the one taking place in London.
This photo and the three below show campaigners with the UK Guantánamo Network holding up photos of the 20 men approved for release but still held at Guantánamo outside the House of Parliament on February 15, 2023 (Photos: Andy Worthington).
Campaigners with the UK Guantánamo Network hold up the Close Guantánamo campaign’s poster of the 20 men approved for release but still held at Guantánamo, and the infographic showing how long they have been held since they were approved for release outside the House of Parliament on February 15, 2023 (Photo: Andy Worthington).

* * * * *

Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer (of an ongoing photo-journalism project, ‘The State of London’), film-maker and singer-songwriter (the lead singer and main songwriter for the London-based band The Four Fathers, whose music is available via Bandcamp). He is the co-founder of the Close Guantánamo campaign (and see the latest photo campaign here) and the successful We Stand With Shaker campaign of 2014-15, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here, or you can watch it online here, via the production company Spectacle, for £2.50).

In 2017, Andy became very involved in housing issues. He is the narrator of the documentary film, ‘Concrete Soldiers UK’, about the destruction of council estates, and the inspiring resistance of residents, he wrote a song ‘Grenfell’, in the aftermath of the entirely preventable fire in June 2017 that killed over 70 people, and he also set up ‘No Social Cleansing in Lewisham’ as a focal point for resistance to estate destruction and the loss of community space in his home borough in south east London. For two months, from August to October 2018, he was part of the occupation of the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, to prevent its destruction — and that of 16 structurally sound council flats next door — by Lewisham Council and Peabody. Although the garden was violently evicted by bailiffs on October 29, 2018, and the trees were cut down on February 27, 2019, the struggle for housing justice — and against environmental destruction — continues.

To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the six-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, The Complete Guantánamo Files, the definitive Guantánamo habeas list, the full military commissions list, and the chronological list of all Andy’s articles.

Please also consider joining the Close Guantánamo campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy’s work, feel free to make a donation.

12 Responses

  1. Andy Worthington says...

    When I posted this on Facebook, I wrote:

    Here’s my latest article, featuring photos from, and a report about the first coordinated protests calling for the closure of Guantanamo, and for the release of the 20 men approved for release from the prison, which took place in London, outside the Houses of Parliament, and in Washington, D.C., outside the Capitol, on February 15, 2023.

    More coordinated protests, involving other locations. will be taking place on Wednesday March 8. Do get in touch if you’d like to be involved.

  2. Andy Worthington says...

    Kevin Hester wrote:

    There’s no more honourable work for a humanitarian than to advocate for those wrongly incarcerated and those abused wrongly within these modern-day Gulags.
    Another reason it’s important is that it represents a lifeline to the incarcerated knowing that there are people like us on the outside advocating for them. I’ve spent time visiting prisoners and they are always grateful not to be forgotten.
    I played a part in getting Tim Anderson released from prison in Australia after he was framed by ASIO, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
    It took us six years but collectively we won his release.
    https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/PolemicUSyd/1991/12.pdf

  3. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks for your reminder of the importance of advocating for the rights of prisoners, Kevin.

  4. Andy Worthington says...

    Dorian Haqmoun wrote:

    Thank you Andy!

  5. Andy Worthington says...

    You’re welcome, Dorian. Good to hear from you.

  6. Andy Worthington says...

    Barbara Bendzunas wrote:

    How in the World do we accept the imprisionment of people who have never gone to trial?

  7. Andy Worthington says...

    It’s disgraceful, isn’t it, Barbara? And all because the Bush administration successfully pretended, 21 years ago, that it could hold people without any rights, either as criminal suspects or as prisoners of war.

  8. Andy Worthington says...

    Lizzy Arizona wrote:

    Thanks Andy best regards and appreciate you

  9. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks for the supportive words, Lizzy!

  10. Global Vigils For The Closure Of Guantánamo On Women’s Day – 🚩 CommunistNews.net says...

    […] the world to hold coordinated monthly vigils on the same days as the London vigils. Last month we were joined by Witness Against Torture campaigners in Washington, D.C., and with New York and Mexico City on […]

  11. The Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo on International Women’s Day - scheerpost.com says...

    […] the world to hold coordinated monthly vigils on the same days as the London vigils. Last month we were joined by Witness Against Torture campaigners in Washington, D.C., and with New York and Mexico City […]

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    […] the world to hold coordinated monthly vigils on the same days as the London vigils. Last month we were joined by Witness Against Torture campaigners in Washington, D.C., and with New York and Mexico City […]

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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).
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