Today I'm just posting an action which will take just a minute but is really important- 17 Uighurs (ethnic Muslims from China) were sold by bounty hunters and have been cleared by the military but are still being held at Guantanamo- see below for what to do.
Call President Obama and Attorney General Holder and tell them:
1. You support the Executive Order to Shut Down Guantanamo.
2. You request that, as a first and immediate step, the Obama administration should drop the Bush administration's appeal of Judge Urbina's order to release the 17 Uighurs into the United States.
White House: 202-456-1111
Attorney General: 202-353-1555
The Uighurs are members of an intensely persecuted minority in western China and were sold to U.S. forces by bounty hunters. Most of them were cleared by the military of any offense in 2003. In September 2008, the U.S. government formally acknowledged that none of them is an enemy combatant. At present, all three branches of the government have acknowledged that the Uighurs should be released. All 17 have been exonerated by both military and habeas courts, and members of Congress have called for their release to the only place they can go: the United States.
Holding that their continued imprisonment was unlawful, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled in October 2008 that they should be present in his court for release into the United States with appropriate conditions. Detailed arrangements to welcome and support the seventeen men had by then been made by religious and refugee organizations. Further commitment of support has been provided by the Uighur community of well established U.S. citizens in the D.C. area.
THE CURRENT PROBLEM
The Bush administration appealed Judge Urbina's ruling to prevent any release into the U.S. "on their watch." But there was not then, and is not now, any legal basis, any security condition, much less any moral or humane reason, for extending the baseless imprisonment of the Uighurs even a day longer.
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WHY RELEASE THEM IN THE U.S.?
It is not surprising that some of the men still held at Guantanamo would be treated with extreme suspicion if they were returned to their home nations-persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, even executed. Alternative homes for men persistently described for years as "the worst of the worst" have understandably been very difficult to find.
While publicly alleging that it was eager to find suitable places to take in prisoners cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay, the Bush Administration kept suggesting behind the scenes that they were very dangerous persons. No wonder no nation stepped forward to receive them! Moreover, the Chinese Government has forcefully pressured nations strong and weak to deny refuge to these prisoners, who were already vigorously persecuted in China before their detention. So it is exceedingly unlikely that any nation other than the U.S. will accept them.
For the U.S. to welcome these wrongfully detained persons will set an important precedent in this nation and present a significant example for the rest of the world; other nations would then be much more likely to accept prisoners against whom no evidence of wrong-doing has been presented after years of confinement.
"It is in the interests of the United States that the executive branch conduct a prompt and thorough review of the circumstances of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo..."
PLEASE CALL TODAY to urge the immediate release of the Uighurs in accord with Judge Urbina's ruling - in particular by urging the Obama Administration and Attorney General Eric Holder to dismiss the appeal and vacate the stay preventing the settlement of the Uighurs in the U.S. Call the White House at 202.456.1111 and Attorney General Holder 202.353.1555 right now.
These national call-in days are being organized by a coalition of human rights, and peace & justice groups, including Witness Against Torture, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, Defending Dissent Foundation, United for Peace & Justice, Network of Spiritual Progressives, Pax Christi USA, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, The Constitution Project, Peace Action, Washington Peace Center, War Resisters League, Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, Afterdowningstreet, World Can't Wait, School of the Americas Watch, Granny Peace Brigade, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, CodePink, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Pace Bene Nonviolence Center and others.
I haven't written much since the New Year partly because I've begun using facebook and flicker as a kind of journal, partly because so much of the news each day has been overwhelming; millions of jobs lost in the United States, thousands of people facing foreclosure, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza dragging on -one million Iraqis are estimated to have been killed yet American politicians and citizens really think that war has been "won." Every week I hear of someone else who has lost their job-young people, middle aged people, people of every color and educational attainment- journalist Stephen Kinser at Northwestern to writers from the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. These photos represent an attempt to find some joy in this time of sorrow- the clouds are a reflection of the sun shining through at a blue hole on Abaco Island, Bahamas where we volunteered for Earth Watch and where fossils of a new specimen of crocodile have been found. http://www.friendsoftheenvironment.org/sawmillsinkfossi.html The blue hole is one of those amazing joys of nature; a deep hole in the middle of a sandy pine woods where fresh water sits on top of salt water. The work of Friends of the Environment and the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation http://www.bahamaswhales.org/ gave me joy as well-they are working to preserve the amazing environment for both people and sea creatures. The banner celebrating Barack Obama in Chicago is a reminder of how much things have changed; a city known for racism is celebrating its "almost" native son's achievement in becoming President of the United States. The photo of Margreat Sam in her kitchen in North Dakota is another joy- Margreat is a traditional artist I've been working with through the North Dakota Council on the Arts who will soon become an artist in residence, bringing her joy in south Indian classical dance and her skilled use of mehindi, painting with henna on the hands to students in North Dakota. And last but not least, CodePINK continues to work for peace -our latest campaign is sending pink marshmallow "peeps" to Bob Herbert at the NY Times http://apps.facebook.com/causes/236092?m=91e6b129, Mr. Herbert wrote a great column about the dangers in continuing to try to use military force in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of using other means but then said : "Much of the country can work itself up to a high pitch of outrage because a banker or an automobile executive flies on a private jet. But we’ll send young men and women by the thousands off to repeated excursions through the hell of combat — three tours, four tours or more — without raising so much as a peep of protest." CodePINK and others are letting Mr. Herbert know we've been doing more than "peep" for six long years now. Hope you will send some "peeps of protest" to Mr. Herbert as well.
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