Closing Guantanamo

Photos from, and my report about the coordinated monthly global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and in London, Brussels and Mexico City on May 7, 2025. The “First Wednesday” vigils have been taking place on the first Wednesday of every month for 28 months, and have gained greater resonance under Donald Trump and his “war on migrants”, in which he has cynically used Guantánamo, and, more recently, has also sent migrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, a mega-Guantánamo that, arguably, wouldn’t exist at all without the template provide by the Bush administration at Guantánamo, and shamefully maintained by every president ever since.

Photos from, and my report about the coordinated monthly global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and in London and Brussels on April 2, 2025. The “First Wednesday” vigils have been taking place on the first Wednesday of every month for more than two years, and are, of course, continuing under Donald Trump, after he has cynically, cruelly and illegally decided to use the prison to hold migrants as part of the racist “war on migrants” that he declared when he took office.

Photos from, and my report about the coordinated monthly global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place across the US and in London, Brussels and Mexico City on March 5, 2025. The “First Wednesday” vigils have been taking place on the first Wednesday of every month for the last two years, and are, of course, continuing under Donald Trump, after he has cynically, cruelly and illegally decided to use the prison to hold migrants as part of the racist “war on migrants” that he declared when he took office.

Following up on a compelling Washington Post article featuring interviews with three of the 127 Venezuelan migrants held in Camp 6 of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay between February 4 and February 20, when they were repatriated (although only to be replaced by new arrivals from the US mainland), I note how alarming it is to hear about the brutality and dehumanization to which they were subjected, including invasive strip-searches, a ban on almost all outdoor recreation time, a ban on all contact with the outside world, and an atmosphere that was so oppressive that a number of them tried to kill themselves. I discuss how the rhetoric about them being “the worst of the worst” seems to be entirely unfounded, and ask, above all, one burning question: who authorized these conditions of confinement, more punitive than those implemented since the early days of the “war on terror”? I note that military guards don’t act autonomously, and that, therefore, their actions must be dictated by the “Standard Operating Procedures” (SOPs) put in place since Trump’s cynical and cruel “war on migrants” began, which need to be publicly revealed.

The video of the powerful and poignant online discussion about Guantánamo, 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: a link to my one-hour interview with the activist Margaret Flowers for her “Clearing the FOG” podcast on Popular Resistance.

Photos from, and my report about the vigils for the closure of Guantánamo 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.”

The video of my half-hour interview with the great peace activist David Swanson for his Talk World Radio show, which is syndicated by the Pacifica Network throughout the US, in which I was very helpfully and generously given the time to explain the many crimes of Guantánamo past, present and future. As David helpfully entitled the show, “Close Guantánamo While Its Victims Are Still Alive.”

Wonderful news, as eleven Yemeni men, long approved for release from Guantánamo, have finally been freed and resettled in Oman. I’ve spent two years writing about and campaigning relentlessly for the release of these men, despite indifference from the mainstream media. I’d like to particularly congratulate Tina Kaidanow, appointed by President Biden to oversee resettlements from Guantánamo, for working so hard to free them, even after her efforts were cynically canceled in October 2023. Behind the scenes, however, she continued to press for their release, although sadly she died in October before seeing the results of all her work. With these releases, just 15 men are still held at Guantánamo, and, although it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on what freedom means for these eleven men, after over two decades of imprisonment without charge or trial, it’s also important that we continue to push for justice for the men still held — three others who have long been approved for release, another three “forever prisoners” who have never been charged, and nine men caught up in the military commission system, where justice remains elusive because of the use of torture, and plea deals are the only viable way to bring some sort of closure to the brutal and failed Guantánamo experiment.

Publicizing the imminent 23rd anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, on January 11, marked by vigils taking place across the US and around the world, as well as the Close Guantánamo campaign’s ongoing photo campaign, marking 8,400 days of the prison’s existence on January 9. I also stress the urgent need for the Biden administration to resettle 14 men long approved for release before leaving office. in just 13 days’ time. If they’re not freed, they’ll be entombed at Guantánamo for another four years under Donald Trump.

My report about the welcome repatriation of Ridah Al-Yazidi, the last Tunisian prisoner at Guantánamo, who was on the first flight into Guantánamo, nearly 23 years ago, but was never charged with a crime. After eight years of imprisonment without charge or trial, he was one of 156 men approved for release by the Guantánamo Review Task Force, a multi-agency review process established by President Obama to review the cases of the 240 men inherited from George W. Bush. The Task Force’s report was published in January 2010, but Al-Yazidi was one of only three men, out of these 156, who were not freed, and who have been waiting to be released ever since, an intolerably long wait that was blamed by State Department officials on long-standing difficulties in negotiating with the Tunisian government, but which was also complicated by Al-Yazidi’s refusal to accept representation by an attorney or to negotiate with the US authorities.