Weekly Vigil by Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo

[Bob Palmer]

Please join us Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the northeast corner of State and Jackson!

Join the event on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/168770389957653/.

From this week's flier:

84 Days Since President Obama’s Promise to Close Guantánamo Bay: Zero Men Released

• 166 men remain imprisoned
• 157 men haven’t been charged
• 86 men have been cleared for release
• 49 men have been on hunger strike for 191 days
• 36 men are being force-fed

One of the hunger strikers is Nabil Hadjarab, a 34-year-old citizen of
Algeria who grew up in France. He was cleared for release in In January
2010. He has been held at Guantánamo for 11 ½ years.

Author and attorney John Grisham on Nabil’s story:

“Nabil was sold to the United States for a bounty of $5,000 and taken to
an underground prison in Kabul….And the Americans had no proof of his
involvement, save for bogus claims implicating him from other prisoners
extracted in a Kabul torture chamber. Several United States interrogators
told him his was a case of mistaken identity. Nonetheless, the United
States had adopted strict rules for Arabs in custody—all were to be sent
to Guantánamo. On Feb. 15, 2002, Nabil was flown to Cuba; shackled,
bound and hooded. Since then, Nabil has been subjected to all the
horrors of the Gitmo handbook: sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation,
temperature extremes, prolonged isolation, lack of access to sunlight,
almost no recreation and limited medical care.”

John Grisham on what the our nation should do about Nabil:

“First, admit the mistake and make the apology. Second, provide
compensation. United States taxpayers have spent $2 million a year for
11 years to keep Nabil at Gitmo; give the guy a few thousand bucks to get
on his feet. Third, pressure the French to allow his re-entry.”

From New York Times Op-Ed, August 10, 2013