Denounce Torture: Get Involved!
Experience Guantánamo Near You. Next: Denver & Minneapolis-St. Paul
Amnesty International's Guantánamo Cell Tour is a way to bring the harsh realities of illegal U.S. detention to concerned citizens and call attention to the injustice and human rights abuses that Guantánamo symbolizes.Watch a panoramic photo from inside the cell » | Read more about the Guantanamo Bay cell tour»
TAKE ACTION: Tear down Guantánamo one pixel at a time
You can tear down Guantánamo and U.S. illegal detention one pixel at a time. Sign our global online pledge and get a pixel to let the world know that you took action. When all the pixels are gone, we'll have 500,000 signatures. And we will have shown our commitment to closing the real Guantánamo as a first step to ending illegal detention.
Sign the pledge, get a pixel »
From Ill-Treatment to Unfair Trial: Mohammed Jawad, Child "Enemy Combatant"
Mohammed Jawad was taken into custody in Afghanistan and handed over to U.S. forces when he was 16 or 17 years old (he has no birth certificate). While at Bagram air base he was allegedly subjected to isolation, sleep deprivation, forced standing, stress positions, and physical assaults as part of the interrogation process. He was transferred to Guantánamo in early February 2003, and attempted suicide in December 2003. In May 2004 he was subjected to sleep disruption and deprivation in the form of the euphemistically named “frequent flyer program” – moved from cell to cell every few hours, day and night, over a 14-day period. The program was supposedly ended in March 2004, but it was used against at least five detainees after that, including Jawad.
Read the reports:
USA: From ill-treatment to unfair trial. The case of Mohammed Jawad, child ‘enemy combatant’
USA: Military judge hears allegations of ill-treatment of teenager at Bagram and Guantánamo
Read the summary »
Hamdan convicted at Guantánamo
Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni national, has been convicted by a panel of six US military officers of "providing material support for terrorism", but acquitted of "conspiracy". The Pentagon had, however, confirmed yesterday that he would remain in indefinite detention as an "enemy combatant" regardless of the verdict. Amnesty International believes that the conviction under procedures that do not meet international fair trial standards compounds the injustice of his more than five years' unlawful detention in Guantánamo.
Read the report »
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New Activist Resources
These resources are intended to help support your activism to stop torture, close Guantanamo & end illegal U.S. detentions, and stop the use of extraordinary rendition and secret prisons. For questions, or to receive printed materials in bulk for tabling and events, email the Counter Terror With Justice campaign at ctwj@aiusa.org.
Counter Terror With Justice Action Guide » | Guantánamo Cell Tour Activist Media Toolkit » | Quotes on Guantánamo and Torture » | Guantánamo Factsheet » | Factsheet on Guantánamo detainee Maher al-Quwari.
Write A Letter to the Editor on Behalf of Uighur Detainees
Huzaifa Parhat, a Guantanamo Bay detainee who a U.S. Court found to have been wrongfully labeled as an "enemy combatant," exemplifies the inherent injustices woven into the detention facility. Parhat is among almost 20 other Chinese Muslims, all members of the Uighur ethnic group, who are being detained in Guantanamo. This group's only enemy is China, a fact that leads many to believe that the U.S. is holding these men to appease the Chinese government. Take Action>>State of Denial: New Report and Case Sheets on Europe's Role in Rendition and Secret Detention
This report provides detailed information on six cases of rendition and secret detention--involving 13 individuals--which demonstrate both the pattern of illegal apprehension and transfer to unlawful detention and torture or other ill-treatment for the victims, and the continuing secrecy, denial and obfuscation by European states in the face of growing evidence of their involvement in the US rendition program.
Read the report and take action>>
Take action for Habeas Corpus! » | Read AI's statement on the decision. »
Five Guantánamo detainees accused of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks are due to appear in front of a military judge this week, beginning tomorrow, as pre-trial hearings in the case resume. Amnesty International will have an observer at the proceedings.
Read more>> | Report from AI observer: July 10, July 11th
Report on week 1 of the military commission trial at Guantánamo
GOOD NEWS! Sami al Hajj Released from Guantánamo
Sami al Hajj, a Sudanese cameraman for the television station al-Jazeera, has been released from Guantánamo. He was held by the U.S. government without charge for over 6 years. Sami al Hajj has said that while in U.S. custody he was subjected to a range of torture and ill-treatment, including beatings and denial of prescribed medication for cancer. Amnesty International volunteers worldwide have written letters to U.S. authorities on behalf of Sami al Hajj, and AIUSA Local Groups 48 (Portland, OR) and 74 (Garden City, NY) "adopted" his case. Many thanks to all who wrote for Sami al Hajj.
Watch a video of Sami al Hajj post-release »
The film the CIA doesn't want you to see
Amnesty International's new short film "The Stuff of Life" portrays "waterboarding," the practice of torturing prisoners by partially drowning them. CIA officials have recently admitted that their operatives have waterboarded "war on terror' detainees in secret interrogations. Despite growing concern about waterboarding and other abusive practices, President George W. Bush recently vetoed a bill that would have outlawed such so-called "enhanced interrogation" techniques. Watch the film and take action (Warning: graphic depiction of waterboarding) »
On May 13, 2008, the U.S. government referred capital charges against five Guantánamo detainees for joint trial by military commission. The five are accused of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks, attacks which Amnesty International has described as a crime against humanity. Two weeks after those attacks, President George W. Bush had said that his was an administration that was "focused on justice. And we're going to get justice." Today, across the globe, justice and the death penalty are increasingly seen as incompatible with each other. Call on President Bush to respect human rights and counter terror with justice. Read the report(Word) »
New Reports and Disturbing Stories of Torture and Injustice
Recently, Amnesty International released several new disturbing details and reports of U.S. led torture and illegal detentions. Khaled Abdu Ahmed Saleh al-Maqtari, first detained at Abu Ghraib, recounts a regime of beatings and sleep deprivation. Murat Kurnaz recounts in detail the torture, interrogation and illegal detention he endured for over five years. Moreover, Amnesty International observed a disturbing pre-trial proceeding at Guantánamo of Mohammed Jawad, who was detained at 16 and held in a cell under bright florescent lights for five years.
Read more about torture and Guantanamo»
Urgent Actions on Behalf of People at Risk of Torture Worldwide
Torture is wrong. It is illegal under international law. Military and intelligence experts have said it is ineffective. Yet governments around the world continue to subject people to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The use of torture must end. All those who authorize and implement it must be held accountable. The people on the following page are at immediate risk of torture or other ill-treatment. You can help them by writing letters to government officials who have the power to prevent these abuses. Letter writing tips are included.
Take action for those at risk of torture»
Write Letters on Behalf of People Illegally Detained In Guantanamo
By choosing Guantánamo as a detention center, the Bush Administration sought to send detainees to a place where they believed neither U.S. nor international law applied. People have been detained for years without charge and have been denied fair trials and habeas corpus. Reports continue of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees held in U.S. custody. Call on U.S. authorities to charge Guantánamo detainees with recognizably criminal offenses and provide them with a fair trial before an independent and impartial tribunal, such as a U.S. federal court, or release them immediately and unconditionally.
Take action for the illegally detained in Guantanamo»
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay is a comedy that will be in theaters starting April 25. In reality, detention in Guantánamo is no joke. From presumed guilt to unfair trials, from ill-treatment to indefinite detention without charge, Guantánamo has become a global symbol of injustice. Amnesty International is calling on the U.S. government to charge detainees and give them fair trials or release them. Hand out these flyers at screenings of Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantánamo Bay »
One page Guantanamo flyer (PDF) | Guantánamo fact sheet (PDF)
Quotes on Guantánamo and torture (PDF) | Q & A on Guantánamo and torture (PDF)
President Bush's Veto of Intelligence Authorization Bill
Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA executive director, issued the following statement in response to President Bush's veto of H.R. 2082, the Intelligence Authorization bill, which prevents the Central Intelligence Agency and other U.S. agents from using waterboarding, sexual humiliation, dogs and other techniques that amount to torture and ill-treatment. Majorities of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate voted in favor of such limits.
Read our statement on Bush's veto» | Take action for the Intelligence Authorization Bill»
Music Against Torture
Sales of the Hip Hop Hoodíos song "Viva la Guantanamera" aid Amnesty International's efforts to close Guantanamo Bay Prison and encourage the full restoration of due process.
Listen to "Viva la Guantanamera" now »
