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Learn more about the Guantanamo detainees | What you can do to spread this message | Find out more about World Can't Wait
Download PDFs of the ad as it appeared in The New York Times, and as a flier
Some initial signers:
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Gbenga Akinnagbe, actor/director |
Tina Foster, International Justice Network, Bagram Lawyer |
Almerindo Ojeda, Guantanamo Testimonials Project, principal investigator |
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President Obama had said nothing about Guantanamo for years. Facing a growing outcry, he blames Congress for blocking closure. Even under Congress’ existing criteria, however, Obama could have released most of the detainees years ago. He closed the office responsible for processing prisoners’ releases; made it harder for lawyers to meet with their clients by recently banning commercial flights to the prison and barring emergency calls by attorneys to the detainees; ordered forced feeding through excruciating means and by strapping prisoners down (a violation of medical ethics and torture in itself); and authorized an April 13, 2013 assault in which guards fired rubber bullets on hunger strikers. Obama does not need Congressional approval: as Commander-in-Chief, he has the power to shut the prison down now.
The continuing torture at Guantanamo is part of larger and alarming developments. When he ran for office, Obama promised to restore the rule of law. Instead he has claimed and exercised unchecked executive powers beyond what George Bush used. He refuses to prosecute officials for their use of torture, yet aggressively prosecutes any whistle-blowers who expose war crimes, most flagrantly in the torture, slander and draconian legal charges against Bradley Manning. By signing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, Obama made indefinite detention, based on merely an accusation, the law of the land. These actions amount to institutionalizing and, in important respects, escalating the “Bush Doctrine.”
In the name of “security,” our government has tortured at least one hundred people to death. In the name of the “war on terror,” thousands have been detained without a chance to face their accusers or even know what charges they are held under. In opposition to international law, Obama has implemented a policy of killing with drones across sovereign borders, deciding who will die by Hellfire missiles - without charges, trials, or any evidence other than what only Obama and his close advisers deem sufficient. At least 176 children have been killed by drones in Pakistan alone and between 3-4,000 non-combatants have died in drone attacks. John Bellinger, who drafted Bush’s justifications for targeted killings, concludes that the Obama administration has decided to kill people with drones so that they don’t have to imprison them.
Fundamental civil liberties have been eviscerated. In the name of safety, fear, or revenge, American presidents cannot be allowed to arrogate to themselves the power of judge, jury and executioner. Actions that utilize de facto torture, that run roughshod over the rule of law and due process, and that rain down terror and murder on peoples and nations, amount to war crimes. Such actions cannot in any way be morally justified in the name of “protecting Americans.” The lives of people living here are not more precious than any other people's lives.
It is up to the people to stand up for principle and morality when their institutions and public officials refuse to do so. The fates of those who are maimed or killed by our government’s policies are inextricably intertwined with our own: we must listen and respond to their cry for justice. We demand the release of the cleared Guantanamo prisoners now, and an end to indefinite detention without charge for the others, before they lose their lives.*
*Obama has been using preventive detention – holding people indefinitely on the grounds that they might do something bad – which is an express violation of the principles under which due process and the rule of law operate: you should not be punished for something that you have not done. He announced this policy publicly in a May 9, 2009 speech at the National Archives. See here for a further discussion of this and other related points.
| Number | Date | Name | Organization | Location | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2351 | Wed Oct 26 17:21:16 EDT 2016 | Alexis Maestre-Saborit | Union for the Justice Laura Marx | Fort Myers, FL | |
| 2350 | Thu May 21 16:09:18 EDT 2015 | David Kaspersin | Dynamic Recording Studios | Rochester, NY | |
| 2349 | Thu May 21 15:27:11 EDT 2015 | Thomas Madison | OregonActionCommittee.Org | Gresham, OR | STOP THE TORTURE!!! |
| 2348 | Fri May 23 16:15:10 EDT 2014 | Blum | Bellevue, WA | As a member of Fellowship of Reconciliation and a life-long peace activist; as a member of our democratic society; as a member of the human race -- I oppose torture. | |
| 2347 | Wed May 21 16:47:11 EDT 2014 | Tara Sufiana | Ukiah, CA | Guantanamo prisoners must be released immediately. and the prison should be closed. Give it back yo Cuba. That is their land. This place and the torture that was inflicted on others is a great blight on More.... | |
| 2346 | Wed May 21 16:47:10 EDT 2014 | Tara Sufiana | Ukiah, CA | Guantanamo prisoners must be released immediately. and the prison should be closed. Give it back yo Cuba. That is their land. This place and the torture that was inflicted on others is a great blight on More.... | |
| 2345 | Wed May 21 06:35:16 EDT 2014 | Nat Queen | University of Birmingham | ||
| 2344 | Tue May 20 23:08:58 EDT 2014 | Gilbert Robledo | Veterans For Peace | Santa Barbara, CA | WHAT IF THOSE HELD IN GUANTANIMO ARE INNOCENT? COME ON, Mr. President!
You PROMISED to close it. Because of this, I am no longer a Democrat. |
| 2343 | Tue May 20 19:35:28 EDT 2014 | JoAnne Lingle | Christian Peacemaker Teams | Indianapolis, IN | |
| 2342 | Tue May 20 15:05:18 EDT 2014 | James Macduff | James A. Macduff | Byers, CO | |
| 2341 | Tue May 20 13:57:21 EDT 2014 | Ellen Naney | Women in Black | ||
| 2340 | Tue May 20 13:46:36 EDT 2014 | Beverly Williams | retired teacher | Medford, OR | |
| 2339 | Wed Feb 05 12:04:37 EST 2014 | Aroosa Ahmed | |||
| 2338 | Thu Dec 26 11:18:17 EST 2013 | Bill Nicholson | Southsea, | ||
| 2337 | Wed Dec 25 03:35:14 EST 2013 | janet patel | Community Democracy Project | toronto, | |
| 2336 | Fri Dec 13 22:55:34 EST 2013 | Nancy Byers Nancy Byers | Berkeley, CA | ||
| 2335 | Mon Nov 11 00:58:54 EST 2013 | Eric Resnick | Canton, OH | I thought we hired Obama because he was going to do better than this. WHat happened? | |
| 2334 | Thu Nov 07 14:46:16 EST 2013 | Jennifer Ortega | NY | ||
| 2333 | Wed Nov 06 18:14:41 EST 2013 | Wilma Ralls | Rohnert Park, CA | ||
| 2332 | Wed Nov 06 16:48:11 EST 2013 | T. Jeffries | Bend, OR | Gluagtánamo: the Washington regime´s proud
continuation of concentration camps. |
|
| 2331 | Wed Nov 06 14:39:23 EST 2013 | Gary Jones | Code Pink | Joliet, IL | |
| 2330 | Wed Nov 06 09:09:12 EST 2013 | Laurence Hager | Retired | Eastham, MA | Guantanamo and indefinite detention are signs of a lawless society. |
| 2329 | Sun Sep 22 12:59:22 EDT 2013 | Karen Clark | Jesus weeps! | ||
| 2328 | Mon Aug 26 22:45:39 EDT 2013 | Jane Fosse | Mrs. | Maplewood, MN | |
| 2327 | Mon Aug 26 20:46:40 EDT 2013 | L Lunceford |
Note: There was not space to display all names on the advertisement in The New York Times.
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