FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 10, 2013

Contact:

Alli McCracken, CODEPINK National Coordinator, (860) 575-5692, Alli@codepink.org

 Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK Cofounder, (415-235-6517), medea@codepink.org

CODEPINK Stages Bold Action in front of the White House, Demands Justice for Guantanamo Prisoners

Washington DC -- At 1 pm EST on Friday, May 10, CODEPINK and ally organizations calling for justice for Guantanamo prisoners will stage a bold action in front of the White House. The action will follow a 12pm-1pm vigil with religious leaders. Visuals include activists wearing Guantanamo jumpsuits, an  “armed US soldier”, reenactments of the degrading and inhumane treatment of the prisoners by US military guards, and more.

“I am disgusted with President Obama for keeping the prisoners in Guantanamo in indefinite detention, refusing to release those who have been cleared, and brutally force-feeding them,” said veteran, grandmother and CODEPINK cofounder Diane Wilson, who is on day 10 of a water-only fast to support the prisoners' call for justice. “We Americans have to do more to force the president to take action.”

CODEPINK has launched an urgent call to save the lives of 130 prisoners on a hunger strike in Guantanamo and will be staging actions all across DC for the upcoming weeks. Over 1000 people from around the world have pledged to join a rolling hunger strike organized by CODEPINK to demand justice for the prisoners held in Guantanamo. And almost 3,000 people have signed a Mothers Day petition to Michelle Obama urging her to tell her husband to shut down Guantanamo.

Currently over 100 Guantanamo prisoners are on hunger strike. More than half of the prisoners were cleared for release years ago, but remain in prison. They have been separated from their families and have suffered torture and abuse, without so much as a trial. CODEPINK and other human rights organizations have been organizing to put pressure on the Obama administration to shut down the prison and return the men cleared for release to their home countries. Activists have visited the White House, various Congressional offices, the State Department, and the Department of Justice to deliver their message.  

CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.

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