Hello from Washington, DC & the 100 Days Campaign-

We have passed the mid-point of the 100 Days, and the campaign continues to be quite busy! Here is a brief update on how things have been, and how you can get involved.

100 Days Vigil

Update: Audio and video of talk by Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer

Hello from Washington, DC & the 100 Days Campaign-

We are on Day 35, and the campaign has been quite busy! We want to be in touch with you to give a brief update on how things have been, and how you can get involved.

Before the updates, we note with great sadness that on Thursday, February 19th, our community and the peace community in general lost a great ally, mentor, and friend: Peter DeMott.

As this update goes out, many of us from the 100 Days Campaign are returning from Ithaca, NY where we gathered to bury our dear friend and brother. Peter DeMott, PRESENTE!

100 Days Vigil

by Witness Against Torture

Imagine you are sitting in a jail cell. You have been held there for five . . . six . . . seven years. Once again, you are participating in a hunger strike; using the only tool you have--your own body--to cry out. It has been 21 days since you last ate of your own volition. And now they insert a tube into your nose, delivering food to keep you alive three times a day. You are being kept alive so that you can continue to be held without charge.

This week, the world celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama and the issue of Guantanamo remained on the front page. Cabinet nominees fielded questions on it, Pentagon officials quarreled over it, and in the days leading up to the inauguration Barack Obama discussed the issue repeatedly. He said closing Guantanamo was necessary, he said it would be a challenge, he said it would take a year; he said he’d be disappointed if the prison were still open at the end of his first term. His transition team said that he’d issue an Executive Order closing Guantanamo on his first full day in office. And then, maybe not. This morning he said he would suspend military tribunals for four months.

The news filters through the prison walls. First joy. Then questions. And finally reality. Politics. You continue to sit. You continue to be force fed. The world has moved on, but you have not. You go back to thinking you will die here; you will never again see your family; you will never go home.

by Matt Daloisio
January 20, 2009
Washington, DC

As we continue to try and make visible the men who are in Guantanamo, over 110 people from around the country will end the nine-day Fast for Justice, and Witness Against Torture will begin the 100 Days Campaign. Those who have come to DC to participate in the fast will gather in McPherson Square at 7am today, share a simple meal, and then head into the inauguration crowds with our jumpsuits, hoods, leaflets and signs.

On Sunday, eight of us in DC joined the throngs of people going to the Inaugural concert on the Mall. Rather than sporting Obama tee shirts, flags and posters, seven of us wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods and one wore a "Shut Guantanamo" tee shirt. The reception from the celebratory crowd was quite positive.

Some updates from Washington, DC & the Fast for Justice. There are currently over 110 people fasting around the country, and 70 men in Guantanamo on Hunger Strike.

Thursday brought us into Day 5 of the fast. The daily vigil began at DuPont Circle, and made its way to the Russell Senate Building, where five members of Witness Against Torture had arrived early in the morning to get seats for the hearings of Eric Holder for Attorney General. The five orange jump-suited folks sat in the hearings, carrying the message that “waterboarding is a crime” & “torture is a crime.” More about our visit to the Senate here.

On Wednesday, after our daily vigil in DC, Witness Against Torture participated in "The First 100 Days: Bringing Human Rights Home" press conference and panel discussion at the National Press Club, put together by the Center for Constitutional Rights.

by Matt Daloisio

With news breaking of a possible executive order coming from President Obama on January 21st to close Guantanamo, 30 fasters met @ 7am this morning for reflection, which began with a poem written from the Guantanamo Prison. While some have insisted that the work is now done, Guantanamo will be closed in one years, we are trying to ask ourselves how it must feel to be one of the 250 men still in prison, learning of at least another year behind bars. While we are heartened by potential early steps towards Guantanamo's closure, our work is far from done.

Matt Daloisio has led anti-Guantanamo activities since 2002 with Witness Against Torture. “My fast, as an act of cleansing, represents the need for the United States to rid itself and atone for the crimes of torture and indefinite detention. It is an expression of hope that Obama will heed his own words, close Guantanamo, and restore the rule of law.