19.1.25
On the last day of Joe Biden’s presidency, it seems appropriate to be posting a video and an audio recording marking the 23rd anniversary of the prison’s opening, on January 11, and appraising the pros and cons of Biden’s tenure in relation to Guantánamo, even though the news today is, understandably, dominated by the extraordinarily welcome news that, after 470 days of the most monstrous and persistent genocidal assault imaginable, a ceasefire has begun today in the Gaza Strip.
This has finally allowed the Palestinians, for the first time since the brief six-day “pause” in hostilities for the exchange of hostages that took place at the end of November 2023, to stop having to live in permanent fear of losing their lives from Israeli bombing, snipers, drones and armed quadcopters.
The sense of relief is, frankly, unimaginable for those of us who have been obliged to watch the atrocities unfold from afar, but many Palestinians, long displaced from their homes, are, for the first time, realizing the unprecedented extent of Israel’s destruction of almost the entire built environment, as they make their way through what appears to be a post-apocalyptic hellscape, in search of the remains of their homes, and of the remains of their lost and murdered loved ones.
On Tuesday (January 14), the day before the ceasefire deal was suddenly and unexpectedly announced, I took part in an online discussion about Guantánamo, hosted by the New America think-tank, entitled, “Guantánamo at Twenty-Three”, with the US attorney Tom Wilner and the US academic Karen Greenberg, hosted by Peter Bergen.
The video of the event is posted below, via YouTube, and I hope that you have time to watch it, and that you’ll share it if you find it useful.
Each of us has devoted a major part of the last two decades or more of our lives to Guantánamo, seeking to get this peculiarly cruel and lawless prison closed, and while we were all grateful to Joe Biden for finally and belatedly, addressing his indifference regarding Guantánamo over the 20 months from April 2023 to December 2024, when not a single prisoner was freed, even though 16 of the 30 men still held had long been approved for release, his release of 15 men last month and this month (which I wrote about here, here, here and here) cannot offset the fact that he leaves office with the prison still open, with three of the 15 men still held also long approved for release, with three others still held indefinitely without charge or trial, and with the other nine men, all either charged or convicted in the military commissions, still enduring various forms of lawlessness.
The event was powerful and poignant, as we all brought our experiences of struggling against this long injustice — and articulating why its continued existence is such a profound legal and moral failure — to what was, in many ways, both a wake for the Biden administration and its mixed successes and failures, and a reflection of the gloom that appropriately envelops anyone concerned with Guantánamo as one of its staunchest supporters, Donald Trump, returns to the White House.
If you have time, please also have a listen to my one-hour interview with the activist Margaret Flowers for her podcast “Clearing the FOG” on Popular Resistance, the website that emerged in 2011 from the Occupy Wall Street movement, in which Margaret and her late partner, Kevin Reese, were involved.
Margaret is a great host, and I was delighted to have had a full hour to explain, in detail, the prison’s history, and why it is such an abomination. As she stated when she promoted the show on Facebook, “The US prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba turned 23 years old this week. Men continue to languish there despite not being charged with a crime. This week on Clearing the FOG Radio Show, I spoke with Andy Worthington about how the prison came about, who is still there and why Joe Biden must end this horrific chapter in US history.”
As we now know, unfortunately, Biden has failed in that last task, but as myself and others prepare for the challenges ahead, under Donald Trump, I hope that you have time to listen to this interview too, and to share it if you find it informative.
* * * * *
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.
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).
Email Andy Worthington
Please support Andy Worthington, independent journalist:
6 Responses
Andy Worthington says...
When I posted this on Facebook, I wrote:
The timing isn’t great, as the ceasefire in Gaza understandably overshadows everything else today, but I need to post this as an epitaph for Joe Biden’s Guantanamo policies, on his last day in office, and as a reminder of why those of us who have worked so tirelessly to get Guantanamo closed fear Trump’s return to the White House tomorrow.
Included here is the video of a powerful and poignant online discussion about Guantanamo, hosted by New America, which took place on January 14, marking the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison three days earlier, featuring myself, Tom Wilner and Karen Greenberg, and moderated by Peter Bergen.
Also included is a link to my one-hour interview with the activist Margaret Flowers for her “Clearing the FOG” podcast on Popular Resistance.
I hope you have time to watch and listen, and that you’ll share the article if you find it useful. The struggle for justice continues!
...on January 19th, 2025 at 7:45 pm
The end of Biden’s Guantánamo, and the start of Trump’s - IndieNewsNow says...
[…] timing of the latest article on my website, Video: “Guantánamo at 23”, My New America Event with Tom Wilner and Karen Greenberg…, really isn’t great, because the ceasefire in Gaza understandably overshadows everything else […]
...on January 19th, 2025 at 11:41 pm
Andy Worthington says...
Natalia Rivera Scott wrote:
It was great, Andy. Thank you all for this great event.
...on January 22nd, 2025 at 6:55 pm
Andy Worthington says...
I’m so glad you appreciated it, Natalia. I thought it was a suitably somber, sorrowful epitaph for the Biden administration’s failure to resolve this longstanding moral stain on the US’s claims that it has any respect for domestic and international laws dealing with the deprivation of people’s liberty. Four Presidents in, and all of them have failed to recognize the damage wrought by Guantanamo’s continued existence.
...on January 22nd, 2025 at 6:55 pm
Andy Worthington says...
Natalia Rivera Scott wrote:
Andy, I always do, the anniversary events are very important. I get to see you, Tom, the survivors … it’s very special.
...on January 23rd, 2025 at 1:47 am
Andy Worthington says...
I’m so glad to hear that, Natalia. Last year Tom wasn’t available, and it was great to have Fionnuala, to summarize her devastating conclusions, after her visit to Guantanamo as a Special Rapporteur, and also for the liberal Washington establishment to hear directly from Mohamedou, a former prisoner and torture victim, which must have been a first for many of them. This year, however, I thought it was definitely appropriate to have Tom and Karen back, as Americans who have spent decades working to get the prison closed, to deliver a suitable epitaph for Biden’s unfinished business.
It’s hard to believe that Tom and I have been doing this for 14 years! This was us in 2011! https://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2011/01/16/video-nine-years-of-guantanamo-what-now-andy-worthington-morris-davis-tom-wilner-and-ben-wittes-at-the-new-america-foundation-january-11-2011/
And here’s my first ever appearance with Tom at New America, in March 2008, on my first ever visit to the US, to promote “The Guantanamo Files”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_ZhnK03nOY
...on January 23rd, 2025 at 1:47 am