Photos and Report: Close Guantánamo Vigils Marking the 23rd Anniversary of the Prison’s Opening, January 11, 2025

13.1.25

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Photos from the vigils for the closure of Guantánamo on January 11, 2025, the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison. Clockwise from top left: Washington, D.C., London, Cobleskill, NY and San Francisco.

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Saturday January 11 marked another gruesome and unforgivable milestone in the US’s ongoing long war on law and fundamental human decency — the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, where, despite recent positive developments (the release of 15 men), another 15 are still held in varying states of lawlessness.

To mark the occasion, groups across the US and around the world, who have been admirably and diligently taking part in monthly coordinated “First Wednesday” vigils for the last two years calling for the prison’s closure, shifted the dates of their vigils to the anniversary — although normal service will be resumed next month, on Wednesday February 5.

Below are photos of the vigils in Washington, D.C., London, New York, San Francisco, Cobleskill, NY and Detroit. A planned vigil in Los Angeles had to be called off because of the wildfires, and other groups held vigils on other days — Portland, OR on January 1, and Mexico City on January 8 — with the vigil outside the European Parliament in Brussels taking place this coming Thursday, January 16. Groups involved include various Amnesty International groups, Witness Against Torture, the World Can’t Wait, Close Guantánamo, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the UK Guantánamo Network, and many other groups, with other organizations also supporting the vigils on an ongoing basis.

On January 11, some other groups who don’t take part in the monthly vigils also joined us — in Greenfield, MA and Augusta, ME, and today vigils also took place in Cleveland and Toledo, OH, although to date we’ve only received photos from Greenfield. Many of those involved in the vigils also took photos with the Close Guantánamo campaign’s poster marking 8,400 days of the prison’s existence on January 9, for which 147 photos to date have been received, which can be found on the website here: Gitmo Clock 2025 photos. They are a wonderful testimony to the breadth and depth of ordinary people’s commitment to the closure of this wretched prison, both across the US and also around the world.

The vigil in the snow outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 11, 2025. Helen Schietinger of Witness Against Torture said, “We had a little J11 vigil today at the White House: Seven people in all, including two newcomers. In peace and with all the solidarity we can muster for the years ahead of us.”
A photo from the march and rally that took place in London on January 11, 2025. Campaigners with the UK Guantánamo Network (including Amnesty members from across London and the south east) marched up Whitehall from the Houses of Parliament to Trafalgar Square, where speakers, myself included, addressed the crowd, and where, as I explained, for the first time, because of recent releases from Guantánamo, the number of campaigners outnumbered the men still held. (Photo: Andy Worthington).
The vigils on the steps of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue on January 11, 2025. Debra Sweet, the national director of the World Can’t Wait, on the left of the photo, said, “Thanks to everyone who showed up to demand the closure of Guantánamo. There was really a community feeling and some honest talk about what we’re up against with closing Guantánamo, and beyond. Thank you, Peace Action, Brooklyn for Peace, War Resisters League, the Catholic Worker friends, Veterans for Peace; and to The Talking Dog and Sally Jones for speaking; to the Raging Grannies for performing, and to 50% of the Filthy Rotten System (Anthony) for performing a jazz-infused harmonica solo; also to John Breitbart for video/sound.”
The vigil in San Francisco on January 11, 2025. Gavrilah Wells, in the front of the photo, kneeling, said, “It was a sunny, windy day and a lovely group of longtime as well as new campaigners joined our urgent call to Biden to CLOSE GITMO NOW and free the men cleared for release!”
The vigil in the snow in Cobleskill, NY, on January 11, 2025 by the Peacemakers of Schoharie County. Sue Spivack wrote, “Eleven Peacemakers stood witness today, calling for GITMO’s closure and resolving to continue going forward to call for the release of the last three cleared prisoners, the clearing and release of the three “forever prisoners,” and the equitable as possible closure and releases and transfers for the remaining nine prisoners, two of them already serving sentences and seven of them caught in the limbo of endless pre-trial procedures in the dysfunctional Military Commission proceedings.”
The vigil outside the Patrick V. McNamara Building in Detroit on January 11, 2025. Geraldine Grunow wrote, “It had snowed the night before, and the roads were still a bit hazardous, so we were delighted that six of us made it downtown safely. The weather was better than many previous years, but still chilly. We cheered ourselves by reflecting on all the other groups around the world doing the same thing today and on the fact that at least some of the detainees had been released recently. We’ll keep asking President Biden to do what’s needed and close Guantánamo before he leaves office. Very best wishes from us in Detroit to you and the other vigiling groups. Thank you for all the work of organizing us!”
The vigil in the snow in Greenfield, MA on January 11, 2025. Nancy Talanian said, “We had a good turnout yesterday because we tagged on to the Gaza ceasefire standout, and several people stayed.” Nancy directs the Guantánamo Survivors Fund, which fundraises to provide essential support to resettled former prisoners who have been fundamentally abandoned by their former captors.
Dan Shea of Veterans for Peace Chapter 72 held a solo vigil at Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland, Oregon on January 1, 2025, and made a short video, available here.
Campaigners in Mexico City weren’t able to join us on January 11, but held a vigil on January 8 instead. Please also see here for a short video of Alli McCracken hula-hooping for the prison’s closure.

Although just 15 men are still held, it’s starting to look unlikely that any will be freed before President Biden leaves office, and, it is reasonable to assume, Donald Trump will then seal the prison shut as he did in his first term in office. I’ll be writing a detailed article soon about these 15 men — three long approved for release, three still held as “forever prisoners”, never charged but not approved for release either, and the nine others caught up in the broken military commission trial system,

Maintaining hope in the face of a Trump administration can be difficult, as we learned between 2017 and 2020, but it remains essential to keep trying to remind the world about the continued existence of Guantánamo because, even at the best of times, it is almost entirely ignored, as amnesia, indifference or outright hostility engulf politicians and the mainstream media. 

As the most enduring US crime scene of the 21st century, however, Guantánamo, the men still held there, and the men who have been released but, in too many cases, have found themselves still marginalized and dehumanized, deserves the attention of everyone who claims to respect the rules of law, and who has not lost touch with fundamental human decency.

I hope to see some of you on Wednesday February 5, 2025, for the resumption of the “First Wednesday” vigils. In the meantime, check out the rest of the photos below.

Another photo from the Washington, D.C. vigil.
Another photo from London, as the march was about to set off from Old Palace Yard, a historic free gathering place opposite the Houses of Parliament. (Photo: Andy Worthington).
Another photo from the London march, at Parliament Square, with the Houses of Parliament, and the Elizabeth Tower, containing Big Ben, in the background. (Photo: Andy Worthington).
The London rally on the north side of Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background. (Photo: Andy Worthington).
Another photo from the vigil in San Francisco.
Another photo from the vigil in Detroit.
Another photo from the vigil in Detroit, showing the extent of the snowfall.
And another photo from Detroit, featuring a message for President Biden.
Another photo from Greenfield, MA.
Another photo from Mexico City.
And another photo from Mexico City, with the 8,400 days poster.
And three more photos from London. Aisha, Mark, Cameron and Imam Suliman deliver a letter to 10 Downing Street urging Keir Starmer to call on President Biden to close Guantánamo before he leaves office.
Aisha, Mark, Khandan and Imam Suliman deliver the letter to 10 Downing Street.
Andy Worthington with the 8,400 days poster in Old Palace Yard.

POSTSCRIPT: On January 16, campaigners in Brussels held a delayed vigil, coinciding with a screening of “The Mauritanian”, the excellent feature film about Mohamedou Ould Slahi, directed by Kevin Macdonald, and the photos below are from their vigil and cinema trip!

A wonderful backdrop in Brussels for a Close Guantánamo vigil.
Another photo from the Brussels vigil.
The campaigners at the screening of “The Mauritanian.”

* * * * *

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 (see the ongoing 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, in 2018, he was part of the occupation of the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, to try to prevent its destruction — and that of 16 structurally sound council flats next door — by Lewisham Council and Peabody.

Since 2019, Andy has become increasingly involved in environmental activism, recognizing that climate change poses an unprecedented threat to life on earth, and that the window for change — requiring a severe reduction in the emission of all greenhouse gases, and the dismantling of our suicidal global capitalist system — is rapidly shrinking, as tipping points are reached that are occurring much quicker than even pessimistic climate scientists expected. You can read his articles about the climate crisis here.

To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s new Substack account, set up in November 2024, where he’ll be sending out a weekly newsletter, or his 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.


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16 Responses

  1. Andy Worthington says...

    When I posted this on Facebook, I wrote:

    Photos from, and my report about the vigils for the closure of Guantanamo that took place across the US and in London on January 11, 2025, the truly shameful 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison. Most of those involved are part of the coordinated monthly global vigils that have been taking place on the first Wednesday of every month for the last two years, and which will continue under Donald Trump.

    With 15 men recently released, the vigils involved a huge sense of relief that Biden had finally taken action after 20 months in which no prisoners were freed, but 15 men still remain, all held in what I describe as “varying states of lawlessness.”

  2. Andy Worthington says...

    Natalia Rivera Scott wrote:

    I love all the photos, family!!! Specially the ones in the snow. Thank you for being part of this 🧡

  3. Andy Worthington says...

    We are indeed a global family, Natalia, providing support and encouragement to each other in the face of widespread indifference, from politicians and the mainstream media, that this monstrous facility is still open, and that 15 men are still held – all, quite fundamentally, deprived of the kind of due process that anyone should expect if they’re detained and deprived for their liberty, and especially over more than two decades. As so often in these degraded times, it is the people – and in this case perhaps no more than a few hundred people worldwide – rather than lawmakers or journalists, who are standing up for what is right.

  4. Andy Worthington says...

    Russell B Fuller wrote:

    Thanks, Andy, for the magnificent effort you have put into this.

  5. Andy Worthington says...

    Thanks so much for the supportive words, Russell. It is an indictment of the failures of politicians and the mainstream media to recognize the significance of the corrosive lawlessness of Guantanamo that has drive me for all this time – as well as a concern for rehumanizing men deliberately stripped of their identities by their captors. Everyone should be concerned when any group of people are stripped of due process, and, as the last 15 months have shown us, so horrendously, when an entire people are dehumanized, it is all too easy for all notions of restraint and proportionality to be abandoned, and for barbarism and depravity to take over instead.

  6. Andy Worthington says...

    Valerie Jeans wrote:

    Thank you so much!

  7. Andy Worthington says...

    You’re most welcome, Valerie. Thanks for your many years of support and interest.

  8. Guantánamo vigils and a one-hour podcast - IndieNewsNow says...

    […] in London held vigils for the prison’s closure, as I reported in my latest article on my website, Photos and Report: Close Guantánamo Vigils Marking the 23rd Anniversary of the Prison’s Opening, …, which features numerous inspiring photos of our global community — most of whom have been […]

  9. Andy Worthington says...

    For a Spanish version, on the World Can’t Wait’s Spanish website, see ‘Fotos y reportaje: Vigilias de Cerrar Guantánamo con motivo por el 23º aniversario de la apertura de la prisión, 11 de enero de 2025’: http://worldcantwait-la.com/worthington-fotos-y-reportaje-vigilias-de-cerrar-gtmo-con-motivo-23-aniversario-apertura-prision-11-1-25.htm

  10. Andy Worthington says...

    Natalia Rivera Scott wrote, in response to 3, above:

    Andy, we may not be a lot but I know each member of this special family has had these men in their hearts for years and are people with huge hearts and courage, standing up for what is right. I’m proud to be part of this. Thank you for creating this family 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

  11. Andy Worthington says...

    🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 Natalia! (the question is: how many orange hearts can you post, for me to cut and paste in my reply?)

  12. Andy Worthington says...

    Russell B Fuller wrote, in response to 5, above:

    Andy, appreciate your leadership in these regards.

  13. Andy Worthington says...

    Thank you so much, Russell! 🙂

  14. Trump’s vile plan to hold 30,000 migrants at Guantánamo Bay - IndieNewsNow says...

    […] coming Wednesday, the monthly coordinated global vigils for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay — the “First Wednesday” vigils, which have […]

  15. How Does Trump Propose To Redefine Immigrants So They’re Beyond The Reach Of The Law? - IndieNewsNow says...

    […] for the second time, it seemed that the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, which had recently marked the 23rd anniversary of its opening, might become as marginalized and generally forgotten as it was […]

  16. Avec Trump, le camp de torture de Guantanamo deviendra une prison pour 30 000 migrants. (LukVervaet - 04/02/25) - L'Hermine Rouge says...

    […] [1]https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2025/01/13/photos-and-report-close-guantanamo-vigils-marking-the-2… […]

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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, singer/songwriter (The Four Fathers).
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