Guantanamo 23rd anniversary

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.