[pjw] EVENT: "Shut Down Guantanamo-- Stop Inspiring Terrorism" Monday Jan 11, 3:30-5:30 PM

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hi friends
Yes, the Iraq Affinity Group is going to keep everyone busy in early 
January, between the Friday Jan 15 event we just sent you info about, the 
below Monday January 11 event, and our next meeting (which is on January 
13)....

This same info is posted at http://www.pjw.info/guantanamo_14yl.html ; we 
will likely be updating that site as plans get more solid. If your group 
wants to be listed as an endorser of the event let us know.

Spread the word!
dan h.
peace and justice works iraq affinity group



Peace and Justice Works
   Iraq Affinity Group
   PO Box 42456
   Portland, OR   97242
   (503) 236-3065  (Office)
   iraq at pjw.info
   http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html


Calendar Item

For immediate Release      December 14, 2015


"Shut Down Guantanamo-- Stop Inspiring Terrorism"
  Visibility Action
Monday, January 11, 2016
3:30-5:30 PM
  SE Hawthorne & Grand (East end of Hawthorne Bridge)

Join Portlanders calling to close down the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 
exactly 14 years to the day after it opened, with a visibility action at the 
east end of the Hawthorne bridge, SE Hawthorne and Grand on Monday, January 11 
from 3:30 to 5:30 PM. Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group will use its 
12-foot-tall "tower of peace" to call attention to the notorious prison where 
over 100 people still languish in a facility that undermines the supposed rule 
of law that separates our country from chaos.

Despite a strong signing statement indicating he still desires to close 
Guantanamo and vetoing the first version of the legislation, President Obama 
signed the 2016 defense authorization bill which continues to restrict his 
ability to transfer prisoners out of the facility. While the prison population 
has been reduced from 775 to 107, Obama has not been successful in closing down 
the prison in seven years in office, despite campaign pledges to do so.

Most held at the facility have been denied access to legal help; many have been 
exposed to harsh conditions that have been described as torture. In 2014, 
dozens of prisoners participated in a hunger strike which drew international 
attention. The US responded in part by force-feeding the protesting prisoners, 
then deciding to stop reporting on the prisoners' actions. Forty-eight of the 
detainees have been cleared for release. Only three who are there were 
convicted of crimes (Human Rights First, 11/16/15).

Guantanamo has been referred to as "the most expensive prison on earth," with 
the Miami Herald reporting in 2011 that it then cost $800,000 per year per 
inmate, climbing to an estimated $2.6 million per person in 2014 (Politifact, 
12/21/14). Overall, the costs from 2002 to today are well over $3 billion.

Organizers of the event believe that continuing to hold people in an off-shore 
prison without prosecution is an unacceptable violation of human rights, which 
is inspiring people to take action against the United States in acts of 
so-called "terrorism." It is time to shut it down.

Local groups organizing the action include the Peace and Justice Works Iraq 
Affinity Group, Amnesty International Group 48 and the Portland Close 
Guantanamo Coalition.  For more information, to get involved or to 
cosponsor/endorse the event contact Peace and Justice Works at 503-236-3065.