We are inviting you to join WAT’s Friday Fast for Justice. If you join the fast, we would ask you to:
1. Fast on Friday, in any form you like
Go without food in solidarity with the hunger strikers in Guantánamo.
2. Make three phone calls to:
- The White House (202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414) urging President Obama to declassify the executive summary and major findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA torture swiftly and in their entirety, as well as to fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo.
- Cliff Sloan at the State Department (202-647-4000) to insist he work more quickly to shut the doors and empty the cells of the prison. Let him know that you are disappointed that only 12 men have been released since President Obama’s speech last May.
- U.S. Southern Command (305-437-1213) to decry the conditions at Guantanamo especially force feeding policy and humiliating body searches that prisoners are subjected to.
Example script: I am fasting for 24 hours in solidarity with the prisoners at Guantanamo, especially for those who are on hunger strike. I am calling today out of concern for them and for the rest of the prisoners. I am asking you to resume releasing the number of prisoners on hunger strike and to stop the inhumane practice of force feeding. Lastly, the US must set free those cleared for release and close Guantanamo.
3. Write to a prisoner at Guantánamo.
Choose a prisoner’s name off the list at the Amnesty International website. There is also a sample letter that can be downloaded and printed off here. The address to send the letter to is:
Detainee ISN
Guantánamo Bay
P.O. Box 160
Washington, D.C. 20355
United States of America
If you are already participating in or are interested in participating in the Friday Fast for Justice, please sign up here. You can commit to fasting on a specific Friday, on May 23rd, the Global Day of Action to Close Guantanamo and End U.S. Torture; weekly for a particular time period; until Guantánamo is closed; or whatever works for you.
See who participated in previous months.
4. Participate in the #GitmoProblems Photo Campaign
People all over the world are participating in our photo campaign. We invite you to take a take a photo of yourself with a sign that finishes this sentence: “In 12 years I have…” and send it to [email protected]
Defying Trump’s right-wing agenda from Day One
Inauguration Day is coming up soon, and at Truthout, we plan to defy Trump’s right-wing agenda from Day One.
Looking to the first year of Trump’s presidency, we know that the most vulnerable among us will be harmed. Militarized policing in U.S. cities and at the borders will intensify. The climate crisis will deteriorate further. The erosion of free speech has already begun, and we anticipate more attacks on journalism.
It will be a terrifying four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. But we’re not falling to despair, because we know there are reasons to believe in our collective power.
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