What are YOU Doing About It???

Dear friends,

There is now less than a month to go until the world bears sad witness to seven years of Guantánamo Bay, a visible stain and symbol of the lawlessness, scorn and disregard for human dignity and life in our times. While politicians, philosophers and Obama's advisers sit and discuss "how best to close Guantánamo", it is a disgrace that it has taken almost seven years for the question even to be seriously raised. Guantánamo Bay and other secret torture and detention facilities will only close and detainees will only be released to countries where their safety will be guaranteed when we give our politicians, both domestic and international, the moral impetus to do so that they patently lack.

To help nudge them in the right direction, the London Guantánamo Campaign is holding two days of action in January 2009. The success of these actions and their contribution to closing down Guantánamo Bay depend largely on YOU. One or two days of action will not wash away seven years of insult and injury to humanity nor the personal devastation suffered by the detainees, their families and communities, however we put to you the same question we put to the politicians, what are you doing about it?

Our day of action on Sunday 11 January will kick off at around at around midday (with the exception of South London) with local actions to raise awareness and talk to the public about Guantánamo Bay and human rights. We will be holding local stalls in:

South London: Wandsworth at 10.30-12.30pm (meet outside Asda on Lavender Hill SW11 – organised jointly by Wandsworth STWC and the LGC)
East London: Whitechapel at 12-2pm
North London: Camden Market at 12-2pm (meet outside Camden Town tube station at 11.30am)
West London: Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park at 12-2pm (meet outside Marble Arch tube station at 11.30am)
Northwest London: Kilburn Square, Kilburn High Road at 12-2pm (meet in Kilburn Square at 12pm)

The stalls will consist of some individuals dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods and others handing out leaflets to and speaking to the public. We will be collecting signatures on a petition to hand in to the US Embassy at a later date. We also hope to collect filmed or written statements from the public on why Guantánamo Bay should close down. Other ideas, including street theatre, are at the discretion of those involved. You can join as an individual or as a group for part of or the entire time. All the stall organisers are very friendly people so there's no need to be afraid. Please get in touch to be put in contact with the person organising the local stall you are interested in.

If you would like to organise a stall in your own area, please get in touch.

We will then be holding a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, W1A at 3-5pm. Confirmed speakers include Andy Worthington, Jean Lambert, Bruce Kent, Imam Shakeel Begg, and others. Join us and call for this to be the LAST anniversary.

In the evening, we invite you to attend the launch of Cageprisoners' National Speaking Tour featuring Moazzam Begg, Sami Al-Haj and Christopher Arendt, Two Sides – One Story: Guantánamo from Both Sides of the Wire at 7pm at the Friend's Meeting House on Euston Road, NW1 (opposite Euston Station): http://cageprisoners.com/campaigns.php?id=818

Join us for a part of or the whole day!

On Tuesday 20 January, as new president Barack Obama is inaugurated, the LGC is holding a demonstration at 6-8pm outside the US Embassy in international solidarity with campaigners in the US from Witness Against Torture, who will start a vigil opposite the White House calling for the closure of GTMO and other illegal prisons under the "war on terror" within the first 100 days of the new presidency.

To organise these events, the LGC will be holding a planning meeting on Thursday 18 December at 7-9pm in the South Wing Council Room, at University College London, Gower Street, WC1E. The room is through the main entrance on Gower Street in the block to the right. X marks the spot on the map attached.

To get involved, join a group, make a suggestion, get more information, etc., even if you cannot attend the planning meeting, please reply to this email or call Aisha on 07809 757 176. Our actions are ALWAYS family and child-friendly, so younger people are more than welcome to join stalls and in the demonstration.

Take part in history in the making: let's shut down Guantánamo Bay. No more torture. No more arbitrary detention. No more anniversaries. Freedom and justice for all.

Source: London Guantánamo Campaign