Hunger Striking Veterans to Protest at White House on Wednesday, June 26
Hunger striking members of Veterans For Peace will be joined by multiple organizations and scores of protestors outside the White House on Wednesday, June 26, to press their demand for the closure of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The White House actions will begin with a 12 noon rally organized by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and will include testimony from retired Colonel Ann Wright, who recently visited with the families of Guantanamo prisoners in Yemen.
Four members of Veterans For Peace are fasting in solidarity with Guantanamo prisoners, over 100 of whom have been carrying on a long term hunger strike. The US Army is force-feeding over 40 prisoners with painfully invasive metal tipped tubes forced through their nose and into their stomachs, a procedure that is widely considered to be torture. Several prisoners are in the hospital in critical condition.
Vietnam veteran medic Diane Wilson has been on a water-only fast for 56 days and has lost 50 pounds. But she intends to participate in the White House protest on Wednesday. “I am still strong,” said Diane Wilson. “I intend to keep fighting as long as these men are being unjustly imprisoned and tortured.”
Elliott Adams, former national president of Veterans For Peace, is on day 39 of his hunger strike. He is taking in less than 300 calories a day, and has lost over 30 pounds, about one pound a day.
“What is happening in Guantanamo is despicable,” said Elliott Adams, who was a paratrooper in Vietnam. "Just think about it: 86 prisoners are cleared for release by the government -- the Department of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security over a year ago, and they're still being held. Many of them have been held for over 11 years! This is a violation of our moral and religious principles, international law, and national law. It is also a violation of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the things that are supposed to define America. “I just can't sit and enjoy my life when my country is doing such terrible things to these people. It's up to us to force our government to get them out of there.”
Tarak Kauff, who serves on the Board of Directors of Veterans For Peace, has fasted for 18 days. “The conditions at Guantanamo continue to be horrifying and barbaric,” said Tarak Kauff. “President Obama, who once said ‘under my administration the United States does not torture,’ could stop this with one phone call - immediately. Instead, the President, the U.S. military establishment, and Congress display more inhumanity, more cruelty and indifference to human suffering with each passing day.”
Vietnam Veteran and well-known peace activist Brian Willson fasted publicly in Portland, Oregon for 28 days, taking in less than 300 calories a day, while losing 24 pounds. While riding his three-wheeled handcycle the week before last, Brian was hit by a car and forced to suspend his fast in order to heal from his wounds. In 1987 Willson had both legs amputated below the knee while trying to stop a munitions train.
“These men have not seen their families since being brutally snatched from their home communities beginning in 2001”, said Brian Willson. “The continuing captivity and maltreatment of these prisoners is medieval, barbaric, sadistic, and grotesquely illegal according to both U.S. and international law. It dehumanizes all of us.”
For more information, go to www.CloseGitmo.net, www.witnesstorture.org and www.veteransforpeace.org.
Contact hunger striker Elliott Adams, 518-441-2697 or by email at elliottadams@juno.com
For more information, contact Gerry Condon at 206-499-1220 or projectsafehaven@hotmail.com