{"id":1157,"date":"2023-01-11T17:34:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T22:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/?p=1157"},"modified":"2023-01-12T12:02:32","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T17:02:32","slug":"raleigh-says-close-guantanamo-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/2023\/01\/11\/raleigh-says-close-guantanamo-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Raleigh says Close Guantanamo Now!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In Raleigh, 32 human rights supporters gathered on January 11 outside the Federal Building to mark the 21<sup>st<\/sup> anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo prison, and call on President Biden to close it immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrom the beginning,\u201d said MC Christina Cowger of NC Stop Torture Now, \u201cGuantanamo meant 3 things:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Islamophobia \u2013 only Muslim prisoners were taken there<\/li><li>Overturning the rule of law \u2013 offshoring lawless detention and torture to evade the courts<\/li><li>Experimentation with torture \u2013 DOD reverse-engineered their own torture survival program at Ft. Bragg, and applied it first at Guantanamo, then Abu Ghraib and Bagram.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"394\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1158\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image.png 525w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Douglas Ryder, Veterans for Peace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the over 780 who have been imprisoned there, the vast majority were released without due process.&nbsp; Only 9 are facing trial before military commissions; their torture prior to Guantanamo is a huge impediment to completing these trials. Three are either serving a life sentence or have accepted plea deals.&nbsp; Three are being held as \u201cforever prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the \u201cforever prisoners,\u201d Abu Zubaydah, arrived in 2006 after extensive torture by the CIA at its black sites, including prolonged sleep deprivation, forced nudity, confinement to a coffin-size box, rectal rehydration, and water tortures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From Joe Margulies, Zubaydah\u2019s attorney, NY Review of Books, 9\/28\/18:&nbsp; \u201cHis captors hurled him into walls and crammed him into boxes and suspended him from hooks and twisted him into shapes that no human body can occupy. They kept him awake for seven consecutive days and nights. They locked him, for months, in a freezing room. They left him in a pool of his own urine. They strapped his hands, feet, arms, legs, torso, and head tightly to an inclined board, with his head lower than his feet. They covered his face and poured water up his nose and down his throat until he began to breathe the water, so that he choked and gagged as it filled his lungs. His torturers then left him to strain against the straps as he began to drown. Repeatedly. Until, just when he believed he was about to&nbsp;die, they raised the board long enough for him to vomit the water and retch. Then they lowered the board and did it again. The torturers&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/04\/20\/world\/20detain.html\" target=\"_blank\">subjected him<\/a>&nbsp;to this treatment at least eighty-three times in August 2002 alone. On at least one such occasion, they waited too long and Abu Zubaydah nearly died on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"554\" height=\"415\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1159\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1.png 554w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 554px) 100vw, 554px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Patrick O&#8217;Neill, Fr. Charlie Mulholland Catholic Worker House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Zubaydah was the first person held at a CIA black site, first to undergo all the \u201cenhanced interrogation\u201d techniques.&nbsp; And he was one of 49 Muslim people known to have been secretly transported \u2013 kidnapped &#8212; by Aero Contractors.&nbsp; Zubaydah was hauled on Aero\u2019s Boeing business jet that was stationed at the Global TransPark in Kinston. The US government first accused him of being a lieutenant to Osama bin Laden, but now concedes that he was never even part of al-Qaeda. Even though the war in Afghanistan is over, it appears Zubaydah is being held without charge until he dies because to release him would expose to the world the appalling acts of torture committed on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike Zubaydah, 20 of the 35 Guantanamo prisoners have been approved for transfer or release.&nbsp; Some of them were approved for transfer in 2010.&nbsp; So today, we call on the Biden Administration to prioritize transfer and repatriation, and to end this shameful symbol of U.S. torture and racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Raleigh program began with Joe Burton.&nbsp; Joe for years has been a leader for peace, against nuclear weapons, and against the gigantic military budget.&nbsp; If you see a great letter to the editor in the <em>News &amp; Observer<\/em>, it may well be by Joe.&nbsp; Joe is on the board of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ncpeaceaction\/\">NC Peace Action<\/a>, and spoke about the obscenely bloated military budget, how U.S. militarism endangers the world, and the fact that Congress has once again obstructed closing Guantanamo by preventing detainees from being brought to the U.S. for trial or imprisonment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"390\" height=\"521\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1160\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-2.png 390w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-2-225x300.png 225w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-2-300x401.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 390px) 100vw, 390px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Joe Burton, NC Peace Action<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The so-called \u201cwar on terror\u201d could not be waged without years of conditioning the American people to believe all Muslims are probably terrorists.&nbsp; This kind of \u201cdehumanization\u201d is also applied to other groups of people.&nbsp; For example, anti-semitism has a long history in the U.S.&nbsp; Anti-semitic acts and attacks have sadly been on the rise in the U.S. recently, thanks to the promotion of hate by powerful people and institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rabbi Salem Pearce gave a Jewish perspective on the human rights outrage that is Guantanamo.&nbsp; She was executive director of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinajewsforjustice.org\/\">Carolina Jews for Justice<\/a> in 2020 and 2021, and is a proud CJJ member.&nbsp; She has worked with T\u2019ruah:&nbsp; the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and with Rabbis Without Borders, and the American Jewish World Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"428\" height=\"570\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1161\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-3.png 428w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-3-225x300.png 225w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-3-300x400.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Rabbi Salem Pearce, Carolina Jews for Justice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things that led some CIA prisoners in the black sites to try to commit suicide was prolonged solitary confinement.&nbsp; It is recognized to be torture.&nbsp;We have many people in solitary confinement here at home.&nbsp; Another thread that links NC to Guantanamo and the CIA black sites is that solitary confinement and other kinds of inhumane imprisonment are carried out disproportionately against people of color.&nbsp; People of color are about 30% of NC\u2019s total population, 50% of NC\u2019s incarcerated population, 62% of those in solitary confinement and 70-80% of those in the worst solitary conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Craig Waleed is Project Manager for the <a href=\"https:\/\/disabilityrightsnc.org\/current-campaigns\/help-stop-torture\/\">End Solitary NC campaign<\/a>, which is part of the national Unlock the Box Campaign.\u00a0 He is an educator, author, counselor, and certified Restorative Practices group facilitator. Other states have made progress on reducing and ending solitary confinement, so it\u2019s NC\u2019s turn now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"407\" height=\"543\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1162\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-4.png 407w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-4-225x300.png 225w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-4-300x400.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Dr. Craig Waleed, End Solitary NC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Guantanamo represents a \u201clock \u2018em up\u201d response to national security.&nbsp; We see the failure of that approach \u2013 over 780 men were imprisoned there, and it did nothing to prevent the loss of over 240,000 civilians and over 6,000 U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What really keeps our communities safe?&nbsp; It\u2019s not mass incarceration.&nbsp; More people per capita are incarcerated in North Carolina than in any country on earth (besides the U.S.). This is destroying families, and it\u2019s not keeping us safe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s an exciting movement in NC to tackle over-incarceration.&nbsp; Helping lead it is Daniel Bowes, Director of Policy &amp; Advocacy for the ACLU of NC.&nbsp; Previously, Daniel directed the Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project at the NC Justice Center. He is a long-time member of the NC Second Chance Alliance, which got the Second Chance Act passed.&nbsp; Now he and others are organizing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.decarceratenownc.com\/\">DecarcerateNowNC<\/a>. Daniel spoke about the 30,000 mostly Black North Carolinians in state prisons \u2013 not even counting those in federal prisons and jails \u2013 and the growing movement for clemency in North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"386\" height=\"515\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1163\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-5.png 386w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-5-225x300.png 225w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-5-300x400.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 386px) 100vw, 386px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Daniel Bowes, ACLU of NC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"454\" height=\"607\" src=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1164\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6.png 454w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-224x300.png 224w, http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/image-6-300x401.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The Ragin&#8217; Grannies closed the vigil with a song about Guantanamo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Raleigh, 32 human rights supporters gathered on January 11 outside the Federal Building to mark the 21st anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo prison, and call on President Biden to close it immediately. \u201cFrom the beginning,\u201d said MC Christina Cowger of NC Stop Torture Now, \u201cGuantanamo meant 3 things:&nbsp; Islamophobia \u2013 only Muslim&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1170,"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions\/1170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncstn.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}