Andy Worthington calls for the closure of Guantánamo
On January 11, 2013, the 11th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, I was very pleased to be in front of the White House in Washington D.C., with the opportunity to call on President Obama to fulfil the promise to close the prison that he made when he took office in 2009. Photo taken by Jeremy Varon of Witness Against Torture.
As I explained in my speech, 86 of the 166 men still held were cleared for release at least three years ago, by an interagency Guantánamo Review Task Force appointed by President Obama, and many of these men were previously cleared for release by military review boards under President Bush, some as long ago as 2004. They are still held because of cowardice on the part of the Obama administration, cynical obstruction in Congress and the appeals court dealing with the prisoners' habeas corpus cases, and indifference in the Supreme Court, and, largely, in the media and amongst the American people.
For my speech outside the White House, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/14/video-andy-worthingt...
Also see this video of a panel discussion at the New America Foundation just before this protest, in which I was joined by the attorney Tom Wilner, my colleague in the "Close Guantánamo" campaign, and Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor of the military commissions at Guantánamo, who resigned in protest at the use of torture: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/16/video-close-guantana...
Also see: www.closeguantanamo.org/
And see my other set of photos of the day of protest here: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632514230...
For more on Andy Worthington, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk/
Andy Worthington calls for the closure of Guantánamo
On January 11, 2013, the 11th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, I was very pleased to be in front of the White House in Washington D.C., with the opportunity to call on President Obama to fulfil the promise to close the prison that he made when he took office in 2009. Photo taken by Jeremy Varon of Witness Against Torture.
As I explained in my speech, 86 of the 166 men still held were cleared for release at least three years ago, by an interagency Guantánamo Review Task Force appointed by President Obama, and many of these men were previously cleared for release by military review boards under President Bush, some as long ago as 2004. They are still held because of cowardice on the part of the Obama administration, cynical obstruction in Congress and the appeals court dealing with the prisoners' habeas corpus cases, and indifference in the Supreme Court, and, largely, in the media and amongst the American people.
For my speech outside the White House, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/14/video-andy-worthingt...
Also see this video of a panel discussion at the New America Foundation just before this protest, in which I was joined by the attorney Tom Wilner, my colleague in the "Close Guantánamo" campaign, and Col. Morris Davis, the former chief prosecutor of the military commissions at Guantánamo, who resigned in protest at the use of torture: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2013/01/16/video-close-guantana...
Also see: www.closeguantanamo.org/
And see my other set of photos of the day of protest here: www.flickr.com/photos/andyworthington/sets/72157632514230...
For more on Andy Worthington, see: www.andyworthington.co.uk/