The Persistence of Memory: The 41st Monthly Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo, June 3, 2026
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In a variation on a famous quote, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”, which is widely but apparently incorrectly attributed to George Orwell, I recently came up with a phrase that, on an ongoing basis, I’ll be using to describe those of us who continue to try to remind the world of the existence of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, and of the 15 men still held there in varying states of fundamental lawlessness:
“In a time of universal deceit, even the act of remembering is a revolutionary act.”
Guantánamo has long been engulfed in a kind of collective amnesia, barely mentioned by US lawmakers, and largely ignored by the mainstream media, which is why our monthly “First Wednesday” vigils, though small in number, continue to be important. If a grave and ongoing injustice isn’t even mentioned, or marked with people in orange jumpsuits bearing witness to it as an internationally significant ongoing crime scene, how is anyone supposed to even remember that it still exists?
This month, nine vigils took place across the US and around the world — in London, New York, Brussels, Mexico City, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Innsbruck, Austria, and Cobleskill, NY. Our most politically resonant campaigners — at the heart of the dysfunctional warmongering beast, outside the White House, in Washington, D.C. — were largely unable to join us this month, with only one stalwart, longtime Close Guantánamo supporter Steve Lane, attending, and without any photos being taken, but they’ll be back next month, and individual campaigners also sent photos from Oakland, CA and Liège in Belgium.
Israel Approves Lawless Show Trials and Mass Executions for Palestinians Seized on Oct. 7, 2023
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As the beleaguered International Criminal Court seeks an arrest warrant for Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in charge of Israel’s torture prisons, and a key driver of legislation approving the death penalty for Palestinians, and establishing a special military tribunal to prosecute and execute those seized on Oct. 7 , 2023, continues to evade accountability.
When the Nazis held the Wannsee Conference on January 1942 to co-ordinate the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” — the extermination of all the Jews in German-controlled Europe — it was attended by 15 high-level administrators in the relevant government departments, and the SS.
When senior officials in Israel were planning the genocide of the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, after October 7, 2023, no single conference was convened to facilitate what it would be appropriate to call Israel’s “Final Solution to the Palestinian Question”, but key officials can be readily identified.
The first two are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, for whom arrest warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court on November 21, 2024, for war crimes and crimes against humanity — the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Bearing Witness to Unending Injustice: The 40th Global Monthly Close Guantánamo Vigils, May 6, 2026
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The monthly “First Wednesday” vigils for the closure of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, on Wednesday May 6, marked the 40th successive month that campaigners across the US, in Washington, D.C., New York, Detroit and Los Angeles, and around the world, in London, Brussels and Belgrade, have come together to call for freedom or justice for the 15 men still held — down from 34 when our vigils started — and for the prison to be closed.
Campaigners in San Francisco joined us on Friday May 8, and in Cobleskill, NY on Saturday May 9, and Ed Charles in Oakland, and Lizzy in Arizona, also sent photos. Campaigners in Mexico City had to postpone their vigil, while, in Los Angeles, Jon Krampner held an unrecorded solo vigil, and wrote, “Neither Julie nor Kate could make it, so I was by myself and went to the Downtown LA Federal Building from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., with my jumpsuit, hood and Amnesty ‘Close Guantánamo’ sign. One young man hurrying into the building said he supported me, but, being in a hurry, declined my request for him to photograph me. Not much interaction beyond that; just a few people pausing to look at me and the sign. This is not much of a report, but at least I showed up.”
Please see below for the photos, and read on for my now monthly reflections on what the vigils mean, and why they continue to be important, followed by further photos. Next month’s vigils will take place on Wednesday June 3, when you’re welcome to join us, and I hope will also take part in the latest phase of Close Guantánamo’s ongoing photo campaign, making every 100 days of the prison’s existence, by taking a photo with the poster marking 8,900 days of Guantánamo’s existence on May 24, and sending it here. All this year’s photos can be found on a dedicated page on the Close Guantánamo website here.
Photos and Report: Amidst Unprecedented Chaos, the Monthly Global Vigils for Guantánamo’s Closure Continue
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Despite unprecedented global chaos caused by just two rogue nations — the US and Israel — who have wilfully eviscerated all the rules regarding the conduct of warfare over the last two and a half years, and massively increasing the geographical scope of their illegal actions over the last six weeks, campaigners across the US and around the world held their 39th monthly consecutive global vigils for the closure of the US’s “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay last week.
On Wednesday April 1, campaigners gathered outside the White House in Washington, D.C., in New York City and Detroit, while other campaigners were outside the Houses of Parliament in London, the European Parliament in Brussels, and in Mexico City. The Saturday before, on “No Kings Day”, campaigners in San Francisco highlighted the rank injustice of the prison’s continued existence, with other campaigners, in Cobleskill, NY, joining on Saturday April 4, as part of weekly protests reflecting the demands of the times that have been running every Saturday for the last 25 years. There were also solo participants in Oakland, CA and in Liège, Belgium.
Please see below for photos from all of the vigils, and read on for my assessment of the importance of the vigils as part of wider resistance to the collapse into depravity of all notions of any kind of moral order since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza 30 achingly long months ago.
Israel Plumbs New Depths of Depravity, as the Knesset Passes a Death Penalty Bill for Palestinians
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For the last two and a half years, the State of Israel has been engaged in an unspeakably horrific genocide in Gaza, in which, at a bare minimum, over 70,000 people — mostly civilians — have been murdered, as well as massively increasing the number of Palestinians, to over 9,000, who are held in a grotesque and largely arbitrary apartheid prison system, for Palestinians only, in which torture is mandatory, rape is widespread, and over a hundred Palestinians have been murdered in that same time period.
With Israel also engaged, over the last month, in the largely indiscriminate carpet-bombing of civilians in Lebanon and Iran, it’s hard to imagine that this brutal, sickeningly and knowingly lawless and permanently warmongering entity could sink any lower into the depths of depravity, but yesterday the Israeli Knesset managed just that, passing a “Death Penalty for Terrorists” amendment to its already bloated and draconian prison legislation regarding Palestinians.
As Amnesty International explained in a news release today, “The new law explicitly creates two legal frameworks for the use of the death penalty in the occupied West Bank, excluding the illegally annexed East Jerusalem, and in Israel.”
Photos and Report: The 38th Monthly Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo on March 4, 2026
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On March 4, the “First Wednesday” monthly global vigils for the closure of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay took place in Washington, D.C., New York City, Detroit, London and Brussels, with former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi holding a solo vigil in Belgrade, and with campaigners in Cobleskill, NY joining us on Saturday March 7, when Gavrilah Wells, an Amnesty campaigner from San Francisco, also sent photos from AIUSA’s Human Rights Conference and AGM in Washington, D.C.
These were the 38th successive monthly vigils for the prison’s closure, after I initiated them in February 2023, following the example established by campaigners in London five months before, securing the support of friends and colleagues across the US, and in Brussels and Mexico City, who, ever since, have shown an implacable commitment to keeping Guantánamo and its many injustices visible, in defiance of the tendency of politicians and the mainstream media to behave as though it no longer exists.
I’m hugely impressed that so many vigils took place given the proximity of the date to the all-encompassing horror of the launch of the illegal and unprovoked joint US-Israeli “war” on Iran just four days before, which, like a black hole of injustice, has understandably swallowed up almost everyone’s time and energy.
Photos and Report: Marking Three Years of the Monthly Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo on Feb. 4, 2026
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On Wednesday February 4, campaigners at nine locations across the US and around the world resumed the monthly “First Wednesday” global vigils calling for the closure of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, which I first initiated three years ago, and which have been running continuously ever since.
Last month, as happens every January, the vigils moved to January 11, to mark the 24th anniversary of the opening of the prison, when an unprecedented 19 vigils took place, 12 in the US and seven at other locations worldwide, as can be seen here.
Photos from the vigils in Washington, D.C., London, New York, Brussels, Portland, OR, San Francisco, Detroit and Cobleskill, NY are posted below, and please read on for my reflections on Guantánamo in 2026. Mexico City had to cancel their vigil at the last minute, but will be back next month — on Wednesday March 4 — while, in Los Angeles, Jon Krampner held a solo vigil, because his regular companions were unable to attend, but no one helped him commit the vigil to posterity by taking a photo. As he said, “I went to the Downtown Los Angeles Federal Building. Early on, two young Latinas briefly video’d me, making a few supportive remarks as they did so. Later on, a young guy walked past me, saying that the entire base should be given back to Cuba. Some people looked at me, many didn’t even appear to notice.”
Fascism in the US, as the Trump Administration Defends Death Squad Executions of US Citizens
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In the space of 17 days, US immigration enforcement agents — members of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the Border Patrol — executed two US citizens, in broad daylight, on the streets of Minneapolis, who posed no threat to them.
We know that Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year old mother, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year old ICU nurse with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, were executed, and posed no threat to the agents, because of multiple videos recorded on smartphones at both locations.
Renee Nicole Good, who had just driven her six-year old son to school, was smiling at, and speaking to Jonathan Ross, the agent who executed her, as she began maneuvering her car past him, less than 30 seconds before he shot her, once through her windshield, and twice through the side window, and then called her a “f*cking bitch.”
Alex Pretti, who was monitoring immigration enforcement agents’ actions, as was his right, was filming on his phone, and trying to protect a woman from assault, when he was pepper-sprayed and set upon by officials who, after finding that he was legally carrying a concealed weapon, removed it from him and then, as he was kneeling on the ground, executed him with gunshots to the back of his head. In the space of 30 seconds, he was shot ten times.
Photos and Report: 19 Global Vigils for the Closure of Guantánamo on the 24th Anniversary of the Prison’s Opening
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Between Saturday January 10 and Monday January 12, an impressive 18 vigils for the closure of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay took place across the US and around the world, marking the 24th anniversary of the opening of the prison, with a 19th taking place on January 15.
Eleven of these vigils were by campaigners who have been taking part in the monthly coordinated “First Wednesday” global vigils that I initiated three years ago, and that have been taking place every month ever since.
Seven of these are at locations in the US — outside the White House in Washington, D.C., in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, Cobleskill, NY, and Portland, OR — while the other four are in London, Brussels and Mexico City, with former Guantánamo prisoner Mansoor Adayfi holding a solo vigil in Belgrade.
Eight more groups also joined us. Five of these were in the US — in Augusta, ME, Cleveland, OH, Greenfield, MA and Raleigh, NC, where annual vigils take place on a regular basis, and in Honolulu in Hawaii, while three others, initiated by Mansoor, took place in Rome, Italy, in Warsaw, Poland and at Shannon Airport in Ireland.
Photos and Report: The Last Close Guantánamo Vigils of 2025 Before the 24th Anniversary of the Prison’s Opening on Jan. 11, 2026
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Last Wednesday, December 3, groups of stalwart campaigners gathered across the US and around the world for the 35th monthly global vigils for the closure of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay.
The “First Wednesday” vigils took place outside the White House in Washington, D.C., and in London, New York City, Brussels, Detroit, Los Angeles and Portland, OR, with former prisoner Mansoor Adayfi also holding a solo vigil in Belgrade. Further vigils took place in Cobleskill, NY on Saturday December 6, and outside the Howard Zinn Book Fair in San Francisco on Sunday December 7.
As usual, the vigils involved committed campaigners from various Amnesty International groups, Close Guantánamo, the UK Guantánamo Network, Veterans for Peace, Witness Against Torture, the World Can’t Wait, the Peacemakers of Schoharie County, and various activist groups in New York City, with support from numerous other organizations, including NRCAT (the National Religious Campaign Against Torture), whose banners feature prominently at some of the vigils.
Please see below for the photos, and comments from the participants, and read on for my reflections on the grimness of this particular milestone, as we near what ought to have been unthinkable — the 24th anniversary, on January 11, 2026, of the opening of the Guantánamo prison, where 15 men are still held in various states of fundamental lawlessness.
Who's still at Guantánamo?
