Guantanamo media

Promoting the global vigils this weekend, on Saturday January 10 and Sunday January 11, marking the unforgivable 24th anniversary of the opening of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay on January 11, where 15 men are still held, although none are detained on anything resembling a legally sound basis. Six are held without charge or trial, six face charges in a broken trial system, the military commissions, that are incapable of delivering justice, one is in legal limbo after being judged mentally unfit to stand trial, another, severely disabled, agreed to a plea deal, and another is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement after a one-sided trial 17 years ago in which he refused to mount a defense. Please join us if you find this ongoing but largely forgotten injustice intolerable, and if you can’t be present in person, feel free to join us by sending in a photo with the Close Guantánamo campaign’s poster marking how long Guantánamo will have been open on January 11 — 8,767 days — as part of an ongoing photo campaign we’ve been running every 100 days, and on the anniversaries of the prison’s opening, since 2018.

My thoughts on the funeral of former US Vice President Dick Cheney, including my 20-minute interview with Rebecca Myles for WBAI Pacifica in New York, about Cheney’s legacy, and why he must never be forgiven, as the primary architect of the “war on terror”, the unapologetic driver of the CIA’s repulsive “black site” torture program, and the chief instigator of the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led directly to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. As I also note, despite Cheney’s opposition to Donald Trump, it was his enthusiasm for unfettered executive power throughout his career, but especially under George W. Bush, that fed directly into Trump’s notion of himself as a would-be emperor who refuses to acknowledge that there ought to be any constraints on his power. In my discussion about Cheney’s funeral, listing the high-profile attendees — and absences — I also focus in particular on the presence of Joe Biden, who so unforgivably replicated the US’s violent and lawless response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in his response to the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which he shamefully described as “Israel’s 9/11”, as he offered Israel unprecedented and uncritical support for its own violent and lawless “war on terror.”

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.

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.”

My report, illustrated with photos, and including videos, of the inspiring launch of the first UK exhibition of Guantánamo prisoners’ art, which took place on December 5 at Rich Mix in east London, and which runs until January 5. Mansoor Adayfi and I spoke at the well-attended event, with Mansoor, in particular, eloquently explaining how, after years of isolation and oppression, the opportunity to create artwork, after Barack Obama became president, was an absolute lifeline for many of the men, allowing them to express their creativity, and to connect with their memories and with the outside world. I also discuss the history of the exhibitions, which began in New York in 2017, but led to a clampdown by the Pentagon, and highlight the six artists featured in the exhibition, pointing out how one of them, Moath Al-Alwi, is still held despite having been approved for release for many years (as is the case with another artist, Khaled Qassim, not featured in the exhibition). I also note how, even for the other five men, who have been released, their post-Guantánamo existence is, in many cases, still profoundly and unjustly affected by the stigma of having been held at Guantánamo.

Publicizing two letters sent to President Biden, urging him to take urgent action to free 16 men still held in the prison at Guantánamo Bay (out of 30 in total) who have long been approved for release — between two and four years ago, and in three outlying cases nearly 15 years ago. The first letter (US and international) is signed by 100 individuals and organizations — including 36 former Guantánamo prisoners, 36 ex-US government officials, lawyers, academics, psychologists and public figures, and 28 rights organizations — while the second, UK-based letter is signed by 40 British MPs and peers, academics and the CEOs of UK rights organizations. The former prisoners signing the first letter include the authors Mansoor Adayfi and Mohamedou Ould Slahi, and the supporters include Larry Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the musician and activist Roger Waters. The UK letter includes 20 Parliamentarians, the Chief Executive of Amnesty International UK, and the film director Kevin Macdonald (‘The Mauritanian’).

The audio recording of “Life at Guantánamo: Writing Behind Bars”, a powerful and moving event that took place at Amnesty International’s London headquarters on Wednesday June 28, 2023, featuring former prisoners Mohamedou Ould Slahi (in person) and Mansoor Adayfi (by Zoom) in discussion, with Andy Worthington, about the enormous challenges they faced when it came to writing at Guantánamo, but how, almost against all odds, they overcame those challenges to create two books — Guantánamo Diary” and “Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo” — which provide searing accounts of the almost incomprehensible injustices and brutality that they experienced at the prison.

Promoting an exhibition of Guantánamo prisoners’ art — the first in the UK — at Rich Mix in London, with an opening event on December 5 at which I will be speaking, alongside former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi, whose 2021 memoir, “Don’t Forget Us Here”, provides the title of the exhibition.

Linking to and discussing my recent, in-depth, one-hour interview with Kevin Gosztola for his “Unauthorised Disclosure” podcast, in which we discussed Guantánamo, with a specific focus on the military commissions, and the recent ruling by the 9/11 trial judge refuting defense secretary Lloyd Austin’s claim that he had the right to revoke plea deals agreed in July with three of the 9/11 co-accused, and on the plight of the 16 men still held who have long been approved for release, and for whom President Biden urgently needs to find new homes before his presidency comes to an end. Kevin also promoted ’Songs of Loss and Resistance”, the new album of protest music by my band The Four Fathers, harking back to the ‘Protest Song of the Week’ feature that he ran on his previous site, Shadowproof, where he publicized our very first release nine years ago.

My interview with Scottie Nell Hughes on Sovren Media about the need for the prison at Guantánamo Bay to be closed, in which I was provided with the opportunity to explain the many reasons why the prison’s closure is long overdue.