>From S. Brian Willson: [email protected] S. Brian Willson at His Fast in Solidarity with Guantanamo Prisoners Hunger Strike/Vigil to Close Guantanamo! Started on Thursday, May 16th - Every Day from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM In Front of The City Hall in Portland, Oregon .
Friends, I am doing fine on the fast at 300 calories a day. I am still cycling from 10-15 miles a day. I suspect I will be on the fast for a long time, probably months, since I am fasting in solidarity with the Guantanamo Hunger Strikers. I have called it an indefinite fast. Diane Wilson who is fasting on water only, has said she will fast until the prisoners are freed. So, she is locked into a possible death sentence since it is unlikely Obomber is going to facilitate whatever it takes to free the men in the next few months. Of course, she could change her mind, but that would make any further fastings with conditions sort of meaningless. If the hunger strikers end their fast, or die, that is another moment to re-consider ending my fast. But that is still not addressing the deeper issues of the release of the prisoners and closing down Guantanamo. These are the more profound issues. Diane Wilson, Kathy Kelly and myself are featured speakers at the VFP convention in Madison, Wisconsin in August. Unless Diane Wilson changes her conditions for the fast, she could not possibly survive on water only into early August. She started on May 1, so she is already about to be on her 21st day of the fast. She is 65 years-old, and perhaps could go 50 or 60 days on water only before getting into serious health issues on the verge of death. She likely will experience some problems after 30 or 40 days. Early August is more than 90 days from the time she began her fast. Again, it is very unlikely that the prisoners will be freed anytime soon, if ever. Of course, I prefer that I am wrong about this. On the other hand, I likely can go at least 100 days on 300 calories a day, thou I would likely be mostly bed-ridden for lack of calories by that time. The carefully selected food plan I am on right now furnishes all essential nutrients - vitamins, trace minerals, electrolytes, etc. It just is not enough calories to enable lots of physical movement perhaps after 30 or 40 days. My age is a factor here, but I am only 7 years older than Diane Wilson. It would be more powerful if there were more indefinite fasters in the US. Perhaps even more powerful would be a bunch of US Americans traveling to Cuba and going as close as possible to the Guantanamo Camp, and setting up an open-ended fast in solidarity with the Guantanamo prisoners just a few miles away. But, it seems, people would have to risk death to make a profound moral imprint on world and US consciousness. Very few people in the US know anything about Guantanamo I am finding during our daily public vigils. Shocking but really not surprising as we live in the land of make believe. There is a plan for a trip of some US people to the proximity of Guantanamo, but I don't know whether they're considering a serious long-term committed fast there. Brian: [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ S. Brian Willson Begins Guantanamo Hunger Strike/Vigil In Solidarity with Guantanamo Prisoners Starting Thursday, May 16th - Every day from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM In Front of The City Hall in Portland, Oregon Look for a Large Colorful Banner and People Wearing Prison-Style Orange Jumpsuits. Questions Contact Dan Shea at: 503-750-7649 Seventy-one-year-old S. Brian Willson, a Viet Nam veteran member of Veterans For Peace, Portland Chapter 72, beginning Sunday, May 12 reduced his food intake by more than 85 percent, fasting on 300 calories a day in solidarity with the 130 uncharged Guantanamo prisoner hunger strikers now in deteriorating health, many of whom are being force-fed. Willson, a trained lawyer and criminologist, anti-war activist and author, lives by the mantra: "We are not worth more; They are not worth less." He joins 65-year-old grandmother Diane Wilson, a fifth-generation Texas shrimper, anti-war activist and author, who began an open-ended, water-only fast on May 1 outside the White House, and intends to fast until the prisoners are freed. There are more than 1,200 people around the country participating in a rolling hunger strike to bring attention to the plight of the fasting prisoners at Guantanamo, who have been illegally detained for over ten years with little recourse. May 16 is the 100th day of the hunger strike. The hunger strike/fast demands President Obama take immediate action to close the prison and release the prisoners. Colonel Morris Davis, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and one-time Chief Prosecutor for the terrorism trials at Guantanamo, has collected 200,000 signatures to be submitted to the White House, appealing to President Obama to close the Medieval detention center.* A total 166 prisoners from 25 countries remain housed in the U.S.-constructed & operated gulag (2002) at Guantanamo, located on Cuban soil without Cuba's permission. Most have been jailed & tortured for eleven years without charges, without trials, with no contact with families & only limited legal counsel when lawyers persist to overcome military obstruction. Although the U.S. is a signatory to the U.N. Convention against Torture & Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, its maltreatment of these detainees openly violates international laws & its own Constitution. Currently as many as 130 of the prisoners are on a hunger strike in protest of their medieval conditions. Stripped of their dignity, their bodies are the only place where they retain some control, yet even this is taken away as their U.S. captors have induced force-feeding to keep them alive in their misery. The American Medical Association and the World Medical Association both declared that force-feeding of competent patients/prisoners is in violation of international law. These prisoners' names and home countries are now identified. Eighty-six of them were cleared for release several years ago, yet remain incarcerated. Fifty-six of these are from Yemen and President Obama has imposed a ban on releasing them. President Obama could use his bully leverage to close Guantanamo and release all the prisoners, despite his blaming Congress. U.S. Professor of Law Marjorie Cohn describes forced feeding as follows: "They strap you to a chair, tie up your wrists, your legs, your forehead and tightly around the waist," Fayiz Al-Kandari told his lawyer, Lt. Col. Barry Wingard. Al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo for 11 years, has never been charged with a crime. "The tube makes his eyes water excessively and blood begins to trickle from the nose. Once the tube passes his throat the gag reflex kicks in. Warm liquid is poured into the body for 45 minutes to two hours. He feels like his body is going to convulse and often vomits," Wingard added. "Death is Preferable to Life at Obama's Guantanamo," Global Research, news site of Centre for Research on Globalization, May 10, 2013. www.globalresearch.ca/death-is-preferable-to-life-at-obamas-guantanamo/53345 56 The larger context: Of the 2,300,000 prisoners warehoused in 9,000 U.S. jails and prisons, nearly 1,400,000 are racial and ethnic minorities. As many as 80,000 are held in solitary confinement. More than 30,000 immigrants are languishing in indefinite detention. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture has concluded that physical isolation of 22-24 hours one day or longer for young people constitutes cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment. Force-feeding is not unique to Guantanamo; some U.S. prisoners are routinely and systematically force fed. The U.S. possesses but 4.6 percent of the world's population, but incarcerates 25 percent of the world's prisoners, owning the highest per capita detention rate of any country in the world. www.change.org/petitions/president-obama-close-detention-facility-at-guantan amo-bay?utm_campaign=petition_invitation&utm_content=control&utm_medium=emai l&utm_source=share_petition#share Important Links for S. Brian Willson You Can Email Brian at: [email protected] Here is Brian's interview on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman on October 28th, 2011: www.democracynow.org/2011/10/28/blood_on_the_tracks_brian_willsons You can watch Brian's 8-minute segment from: "What I've Learned About US Foreign Policy" at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rkvl9XHCYU&feature=related All of Brian's Essays on his Website are well worth Reading at his web site: www.brianwillson.com Short Autobiography of S. Brian Willson: www.brianwillson.com/autobiography Brian's New Book Titled: BLOOD ON THE TRACKS: The Life & Times of S. Brian Willson: www.addictedtowar.com/SBWillson.html 9-Minute Trailer for Film in Progress titled: "PAYING THE PRICE FOR PEACE: The Story of S. Brian Willson & The Peace Movement" - Directed by Bo Boudart www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKIjfUAnPvY&feature=player_embedded# <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKIjfUAnPvY&feature=player_embedded> If you feel inspired to help get this important film finished, please send a donation to: Beau Monde Image Foundation PO Box 7395, Menlo Park, CA 94026 (This is a 501 C-3 organization. So it is Tax Deductable) Bo has already interviewed Daniel Ellsberg, Father Roy Bourgeois, Medea Benjamin, Col. Ann Wright, Martin Sheen, Alice Walker, Phil Donahue, Blase Bonpane, Ron Kovic, Ray McGovern, Charlie Clements, Camila Mejia (Iraq War Veteran), Bruce Gagnon, Charlie Liteky, Duncan Murphy, Leah Bolger (past president of Veterans For Peace), Elliot Adams (past president of VFP), Mike Prysner (Iraq War Veteran), Jeff Paterson (Courage to Resist), David Swanson (War Is A Crime) & others. He still plans to interview Amy Goodman, Kris Kristofferson, Ed Asner, Kathy Kelly & Cindy Sheehan. Bo Boudart is a producer of wildlife, ecology, cultural, human rights, cultural, educational and science programs. He has initiated productions in Asia, Indonesia and Philippine Island Archipelagos, South America, Africa, Australia, the Arctic, the Caribbean, and throughout the United States. Boudart has produced documentaries, animations, educational, marketing and informational programs for distribution in all formats. Many of his programs have aired on the Discovery Channel, Public Television, Canadian Broadcasting, NHK Japan, French TV, and the Middle East. Bo Boudart Director of: "Paying The Price For Peace" 650-644-7228 [email protected] www.boboudartproductions.org In Peace, Frank Dorrel Associate Producer of: "Paying The Price For Peace" Publisher of: ADDICTED To WAR 310-838-8131 [email protected] [email protected] www.addictedtowar.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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