When: Saturday, January 14, 2023, 1 p.m FMI: https://www.closeguantanamo.org
Edited video of this rally HERE. Selected photos from this rally HERE.
Organizers of this rally: Witness against Torture - Frank Panopoulos
http://www.paxchristi-maine.org Pax Christi Maine - Mary Kate Small
Where: Augusta, ME National Guard Armory, 179 Western Avenue
What: VIGIL & RALLY to Close Guantánamo after 21 years of Detention and Torture, Group photo
FLIER to post in your community | HANDOUT for rally | Press Release | Event Resources
Dr. Martin Luther King said it plainly: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on
military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Speakers include Frank Panopoulos, an attorney representing a Guantánamo prisoner who is uncharged & has been held indefinitely for 16 years.
The message we wish to convey is simple: Shut down Guantánamo. According to the ACLU, since the prison opened in 2002, 779 prisoners have been held there, including 21 children. More than 85% of those prisoners were sold as prisoners to the U.S. for a bounty. Currently, 35 remain imprisoned – 23 held indefinitely without charge in violation of international laws. 20 of these 23 have been approved for release, some long ago, but are still held.
Actions are taking place throughout the country to state that 21 years of detention and torture in Guantánamo is shameful, completely unacceptable, and abhorrent!
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
1 :00 - Augusta Armory Vigil at 179 Western Ave.(parking surrounds Armory)
1 :15 -Rally and Speakers, begins with a song. Bring your signs from last year.! We will have some on site.
- Frank Panopoulos, Witness Against Torture, Detainee Attorney
- Mary Kate Small, Pax Christi Maine
- Dud Hendrick, ME Veterans For Peace
- Maureen Ostensen, Smilin' Trees Disarmament Farms
- John Raby, Peace Action Maine, Generously read by Don Kimball
- Open mic for those who have lived experience, similar or related
- Witness ends, prayer in closing
Sponsors: Pax Christi Maine, Peace Action Maine, Maine Veterans for Peace, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick Maine, ME Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, and others
Contacts for more information:
Witness against Torture - Frank Panopoulos
PRIMARY CONTACT:http://www.paxchristi-maine.org Pax Christi Maine - Mary Kate Small
Peace Action Maine - Martha Spiess
Snow date: Sunday, January 15th Same Time
FMI: https://peaceactionme.org/events/mainers-join-call-to-close-guantanamo.html
~We encourage those who are able: donate to the Guantanamo Survivors Fund: https://www.nogitmos.org/guantanamo-survivors-fund
