It takes a lot of work by the state, over time, to corrode perceptions of "right" and "wrong." For example, our government has done its best to hide the torture practiced at Guantanamo. Ten years after investigative reporter Jason Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request concerning the 'forced feeding' of desperate hunger strikers making a 'last ditch' effort to free themselves from indefinite detention, he received copy of a letter sent to Senator Dianne Feinstein by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in defense of the practice.
Exposure and protest of prisoner abuse over two decades has failed to force closure of America's Gulag. Today's survivors truly can't wait for remedy--if that is even possible at this point--of extra-judicial incarceration. We refuse to accept further excuses for delay. President George W. Bush declared his wish to shutter the prison he had opened. Both Obama and the current president promised to do the same. The tail end of Biden's administration may well be the last chance for Guantanamo closure; Trump had planned to enlarge the facility for more 'bad guys'; Kamala Harris has been mum on the issue. But Biden still has a chance to follow his word. In the face of Israeli torture of Palestinians in a manner resembling the notorious US prison, I think it's the least he can do.
Join World Can't Wait and Amnesty International to deliver that message Wednesday, August 7, 6PM at the traffic island (Harry Bridges Plaza) outside the SF Ferry Building.
