Good Friday 2015: How can we help to shine the light?

The Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo participated in the April 3, 2015, Good Friday Justice Walk sponsored every year by the 8th Day Center for Justice in Chicago:

Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo members
reading on Good Friday 2015. (Photo courtesy FJJ.)

Today we remember the prisoners at Guantanamo, most of them never charged with any crime. They have been stripped of their clothes, their ties to their families, their rights, and their identities. They have been humiliated and tortured.

With the courage of their hunger strikes, their legal battles, and their words they shine a light on Guantanamo, and they call on us to work for justice.

Today we share words from the Guantanamo Diary of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, stripped, tortured, and still imprisoned at Guantanamo since 2002, though never charged, and though a federal judge ordered his release in 2010.

Reader 1: “I was deprived of my comfort items, except for a thin iso-mat and a very thin, small, worn-out blanket. I was deprived of my books, which I owned, I was deprived of my Koran, I was deprived of my soap. I was deprived of my toothpaste and the roll of toilet paper I had. The cell – better, the box – was cooled down to the point where I was shaking most of the time. I was forbidden from seeing the light of the day…” (218)

Reader 2: [The interrogator tells him] “We’re gonna put you in a hole for the rest of your life. You’re already convicted. You will never see your family.” (238)

Guantánamo Diary
by Mohamedou Ould Slahi

Reader 3: “…in the secret camps [section of GITMO] the war against the Islamic religion was more than obvious. Not only was there no sign to Mecca, but the ritual prayers were also forbidden. Reciting the Koran was forbidden. Possessing the Koran was forbidden. Fasting was forbidden. Practically any Islamic-related ritual was forbidden.” (265)

Reader 4: [The interrogator tells him] "In the eyes of the Americans, you're doomed. Just looking at you in an orange suit, chains, and being Muslim and Arabic is enough to convict you."(220)

Reader 5: “I have only written what I experienced, what I saw, and what I learned first-hand.” (all from 369-70)

All: Mohamedou Ould Slahi - Thank you for shining the light

Reader: “I have tried not to exaggerate nor to understate. I have tried to be as fair as possible, to the U.S. government, to my brothers, and to myself.”

All: Mohamedou Ould Slahi - How can we help to shine the light?

Reader: “I don’t expect people who don’t know me to believe me, but I expect them, at least, to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

All: Mohamedou Ould Slahi - How can we help to shine the light?

“…if Americans are willing to stand for what they believe in, I also expect public opinion to compel the U.S. government to open a torture and war crimes investigation. I am more than confident that I can prove every single thing I have written in this book if I am ever given the opportunity…”

All: Guantanamo prisoners and hunger strikers, we thank you for shining the light.

Reader: Just as the prisoners at Guantanamo shed light through their courage, we thank the families of people who are tortured in U.S. jails and prisons and even murdered by the police. These families have been stripped of their loved ones but refuse to accept this injustice. Their courage shines a light for all of us to stand for justice.

All: Guantanamo prisoners and families of those whose lives are stolen by police in the US, we thank you for shining the light.

 

Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo members participating
 in the Good Friday 2015 Justice Walk. (Photo courtesy FJJ.)

"We who believe in freedom cannot rest!" (Shut Down Guantanamo!)

On Good Friday 2014 (April 18), members of the Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo participated in the 34th annual 8th Day Center Good Friday Justice Walk. The theme for the walk was "We who believe in freedom cannot rest!" and this certainly resonated with the work of the Coalition.

Below is text of our station (#9 - Executed) together with photos from the day and images of the detainees whose writings were used.


OPENING PRAYER

Jesus, our Tortured Brother,
In this world, so many are
forced to walk your path today —
the suffering and pain, the
humiliation, sense of betrayal and
abandonment,
for those with power, the
Romans of today, continue to
condemn others to modern crosses.
You said that what was done to the least of these was done to
you and so each day,
You are tortured anew.

(Sister Dianna Ortiz, OSU)

READER ONE

My name is Shaker. Please can you remember this name for me, because I hardly can anymore.

Here, they call me 239. In fact, I call myself 239. It feels so strange to witness my name slipping away from me.

I wonder how long it is going to take for all of us here in Guantánamo to slip away from the world’s memory?

We have lost years of our lives here - and some (three times as many as have been convicted) have actually died.

We have lost our sanity, our health, our humanity and our dignity. Yes, we seem to have lost everything.

But I believe we are gradually rediscovering hope and, with hope, we will relocate our lives and everything else that is meaningful.

Meanwhile our tormentors are losing everything and, the more they lose, the more they torment us. I can’t describe what they are doing. The world must hasten to compel the US government to solve this dilemma before it is too late. Candles cannot burn forever.

(Shaker Aamar)

ALL:

Where is the world to save us from torture?

Where is the world to save us from the fire and sadness?

Where is the world to save the hunger strikers?

(Adnan Latif)

READER TWO

O prison darkness, pitch your tent.
We love the darkness.

For after the dark hours of the night,
Pride’s dawn will rise.

Let the world, with all its bliss, fade away -
So long as we find favor with God.

A boy may despair in the face of a problem,
But we know God has a design.

Even though the bands tighten and seem unbreakable,
They will shatter.

Those who persist will attain their goal;
Those who keep knocking shall gain entry,

O crisis, intensify!
The morning is about to break forth!

(Abdulaziz)

ALL:

Where is the world to save us from torture?

Where is the world to save us from the fire and sadness?

Where is the world to save the hunger strikers?

CLOSING PRAYER

Jesus, our Guardian of the Wounded and Tortured,
Bid us to look into the secret prisons—the unmarked
graves—the hearts and minds of the torture survivors,
Bid us to wipe the tears of the families of those whose
decapitated bodies were cast into the open sea,
Bid us to embrace the open wounds of the tortured.
Jesus, Guiding Spirit,
Teach us to be in solidarity with those who hang from
these crosses,
Call out to those who torture, “Know the evil you have
done and repent.”
Call out to the rest of us, “What meaning does love have
if you allow torture to continue unopposed?”
In the name of all the tortured of the world, give us the
strength, give us the courage, give us the will to bring this
horror to an end, in the name of love, justice, and the God of
us all. Amen

(Sister Dianna Ortiz, OSU)

Justice Walk photos courtesy FJJ.