[pjw] UPDATE- EVENT REMINDER: Fri Jan 10 4:30 PM: "23 Years of Guantanamo: Close the 'Detention Center' Now!"

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello IAG supporters
It's rare for me to shout enthusiastically when I read the news, but in 
getting ready to send you this reminder I looked up the words "Guantanamo 
prisoners released" and popped up a fresh story from today saying that 
ELEVEN MORE PRISONERS have been released from the US no-man's land, 
leaving only fifteen people there.

>From the article:

  The transfer announced Monday leaves six never-charged men still being
  held at Guantanamo, two convicted and sentenced inmates, and seven others
  charged with the 2001 attacks, the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, and 2002
  bombings in Bali, Indonesia.

  https://hosted.ap.org/article/a0ac3f1353ade7828be9cb3606b36106/us-transfers-11-guantanamo-detainees-oman-after-more-two

So while this is an excellent step forward, we still must call for the 
prison to be shut down, and will do so on Friday, perhaps with your help 
and participation. Here's the most recent version of the announcement, 
which is online at

  https://www.pjw.info/guantanamo23yl.html

There you can also find a link to the flyer (which I still haven't had 
time to update and may not as we're now working on a fact sheet to hand 
out).

  https://www.pjw.info/guantanamo23yl_flyer.pdf

So rare to have a victory, let's celebrate and keep working for peace and 
for justice.

dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinty group

-------

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

                            23 Years of Guantanamo:
                       Close the "Detention Center" Now!
                           No More Forever Prisoners
                        Expanded Friday Rally and March
                           Friday, January 10, 2025
                                 4:30-6:00 PM
                          Pioneer Courthouse Square,
                            SW Yamhill and Broadway

One day before the 23rd anniversary of the notorious prison's opening,
people in Portland will gather for a rally and march calling to close
down United States' Guantanamo Bay "detention center" in Cuba. Fifteen
(15)* people remain there. Most of the active military aspects of the
"war on terror" have subsided, and for years people have been cleared
for release but remain incarcerated. Over 700 prisoners have been
released, and like those cleared for release, were never charged with a
crime. Around the world, Guantanamo is a symbol of the US' hypocrisy of
telling others to respect human rights. In the name of the "war on
terror," prisoners were subjected to torture and inhumane conditions.

Efforts to shut down Guantanamo have been hampered for years by
Congress passing legislation to prohibit funds being used to do so,
including transferring prisoners to the US where they might access
proper legal processes. Instead, America spends hundreds of millions of
dollars a year to maintain this site of injustice.

The Friday Rally for Peace and Justice has been held weekly since
November, 2001. For the first 18.5 years it was coordinated by Portland
Peaceful Response Coalition, and since March, 2020 by Peace and Justice
Works Iraq Affinity Group. Normally the rally begins at 5 PM; this
event begins at 4:30 to underscore its importance.

This event is coordinated by Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity
Group and cosponsored by Amnesty International Group 48.

For more information or to cosponsor the event contact Peace and
Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group: (503) 236-3065 or iraq at pjw.info.

Due to ongoing COVID concerns, we ask that participants mask up and
stay distanced.

  *- There were 30 people at Guantanamo when we created this event--
  three were released in late December 2024, one in early January, and
  eleven more on January 7!