Guantanamo campaigns

Photos from, and my report about the eleven coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on October 4, 2023 in Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco, Raleigh, NC, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit, Brussels, Copenhagen and Minneapolis, with photos from London’s belated vigil on October 11 added a week later. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of October 4, between 376 and 5,003 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

Promoting a very special event on Sunday 22nd October in Conway Hall in London, ‘Grassroots Protest: Activism from Below’, in which I’ll be discussing the We Stand With Shaker Aamer campaign of 2014-15, and my ongoing work on Guantánamo, and writer, editor and activist Leila Hassan (Race Today) will be discussing her involvement in the anti-racist movement of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

The shameful story of Ravil Mingazov, a Russian Tatar held at Guantánamo for 14 years, then sent to the UAE, where he has been imprisoned for nearly seven years, in harsh conditions, despite having been promised that he would be helped to rebuild his life as a free man. His son and wife were granted asylum in the UK in 2014, and campaigners here in the UK are currently involved in efforts to persuade the British government to bring him to the UK to rejoin his family.

Photos from, and my report about the ten coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on September 6, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit, Brussels, Copenhagen and Minneapolis, and, for the first time, in San Francisco and Saratoga Springs, NY. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of September 6, between 348 and 4,975 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

Photos from, and my report about the seven coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on August 2, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York City, Mexico City, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit and Los Angeles. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of August 2, between 313 and 4,940 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

As Guantánamo once more falls off the mainstream media’s radar, I thought this would be a good time to ask those who oppose the continued existence of the prison to write to the men still held, to let them know that they’ve not been forgotten.

Photos from, and my report about the ten coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on July 5, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York City, Mexico City, Copenhagen, Brussels, Minneapolis, Cobleskill, NY, Detroit and Serbia. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of July 5, between 285 and 4,912 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

Photos from, and my report about the eleven coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on June 7, 2023 in locations including London, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Detroit, Brussels, Copenhagen, Mexico City, Morocco, Serbia and the Netherlands. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men (out of the 30 still imprisoned) who have been approved for release but are still held — as of June 7, between 257 and 4,884 days since the US authorities first decided that they no longer wanted to hold them.

Promoting the next monthly coordinated global vigils for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, taking place next Wednesday, June 7, in London, across the US, and at other locations around the world. Hoping you can join us!

Photos from, and my report about the eight coordinated global vigils for the closure of Guantánamo that took place on May 3, 2023 in London, Washington, D.C., New York, Mexico City, Brussels, Copenhagen, Detroit and Los Angeles. The ongoing vigils take place on the first Wednesday of every month, and, as well as calling for the closure of the prison, also highlight the plight of the 16 men still held (out of 30 in total) who have been approved for release but, in 13 cases, cannot be repatriated because of US laws, and must be found new homes in third countries.