Witness Against Torture

Witness Against Torture is an American human rights advocacy organization focused on opposition to torture, indefinite detention, and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The group emerged in 2005, when a group of 25 Americans traveled to Cuba intending to visit the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and bear witness to the treatment of prisoners held there. Although the visitors were not permitted to enter the camp, the action established the organization’s central method and message: public protest, personal witness, and nonviolent direct action in response to alleged human-rights abuses carried out in the name of national security. The organization’s principal campaign has been the demand that the United States close Guantanamo Bay and resolve the status of the people detained there. Its advocacy has addressed the broader system of post-September 11 detention and interrogation, including allegations of torture and the holding of prisoners without ordinary criminal-trial protections. Rather than operating as a commercial enterprise, Witness Against Torture has functioned as a movement-based advocacy group, using demonstrations, civil disobedience, educational activity, public statements, and campaign partnerships to keep detention and torture in public view. A recurring feature of the group’s work has been the use of symbolic and theatrical protest. Members and supporters have appeared in public wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods, evoking the clothing and visual representation associated with prisoners at Guantanamo. These actions are intended to make otherwise distant detention practices visible to the public and to emphasize the humanity of detainees. The group has also organized fasting and other forms of nonviolent witness connected with demands for closure of the prison and humane treatment of detainees. Witness Against Torture participated in the final demonstration of the 100 Days Campaign on April 30, 2009. The action marked 100 days after President Barack Obama issued an executive order directing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The demonstration ended with the arrest of Carmen Trotta, described as a leader of the action, and approximately 60 other participants. The arrests reflected the organization’s willingness to use civil disobedience rather than limit its work to conventional lobbying or public education. On January 12, 2012, 37 members of the group demonstrated outside the White House. After police warned them to clear the sidewalk, the demonstrators were individually arrested. This action continued the organization’s practice of linking a specific public location with demands concerning detention policy and accountability. The group’s public identity is closely tied to the Guantanamo campaign, and available reference material does not establish a conventional corporate structure, commercial product portfolio, headquarters, ownership arrangement, or publicly listed status. Its principal output is advocacy rather than goods or paid services. A book published in 2008, Witness Against Torture: the campaign to shut down Guantánamo, documents the movement’s campaign and provides a bibliographic record of its work. The available material does not provide enough information to determine the organization’s current operating scale, formal leadership, funding model, or present-day program status.

Witness Against Torture was formed in 2005 after 25 Americans traveled to Guantanamo Bay with the intention of visiting the United States detention facility there. The group was not allowed to enter the camp, but the attempted visit became the foundation of its organizing approach. By presenting themselves as witnesses to the detention system, its members sought to challenge the physical and political distance separating the public from prisoners held under the designation of unlawful enemy combatants. From its beginning, the organization concentrated on the closure of Guantanamo Bay and opposition to torture and indefinite detention. Its work belongs to the post-September 11 human rights movement that challenged the legal and ethical basis of detention and interrogation policies associated with the United States government’s war on terror. The group’s activity has generally taken the form of nonviolent direct action, public demonstrations, fasting, symbolic representation of detainees, and campaign-based education rather than commercial operations. A notable element of the group’s public presentation has been the use of orange jumpsuits and black hoods in demonstrations. These visual symbols refer to the treatment and depiction of prisoners at Guantanamo and are intended to make detention policy more immediate and recognizable in public spaces. The group has also used civil disobedience to direct attention to government buildings and other sites associated with national policy. In 2009, Witness Against Torture participated in the final demonstration of the 100 Days Campaign. The action took place on April 30, 2009, one hundred days after President Barack Obama issued an executive order calling for the closure of the Guantanamo detention camp. The demonstration resulted in the arrest of Carmen Trotta, identified as the action’s leader, and approximately 60 additional participants. On January 12, 2012, 37 members of the organization demonstrated in front of the White House. Police warned the participants to clear the sidewalk, and the demonstrators were arrested individually. The event continued the group’s use of arrest-risking protest to focus attention on the unresolved status of Guantanamo and the detainees held there. The organization’s campaign was documented in the 2008 volume Witness Against Torture: the campaign to shut down Guantánamo, edited by Anna J. Brown and published by Yellow Bike Press. Available reference material does not establish a formal corporate hierarchy, named founder, headquarters, commercial product lines, or a complete account of activity after the 2012 demonstration. Accordingly, the organization is best described as a campaign-oriented human rights group whose documented identity is centered on anti-torture advocacy and the effort to close Guantanamo Bay.

• 2012

  White House demonstration and arrests

  [1]Witness Against Tortureen.wikipedia.org

  Thirty-seven members demonstrated outside the White House and were arrested after being instructed to clear the sidewalk.

• 2009

  100 Days Campaign demonstration

  [1]Witness Against Tortureen.wikipedia.org

  The organization took part in a demonstration marking 100 days since the presidential order directing the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

• 2008

  Publication of campaign history

  [1]Witness Against Tortureen.wikipedia.org

  Witness Against Torture: the campaign to shut down Guantánamo was published by Yellow Bike Press, providing a bibliographic record of the organization’s campaign.

• 2005

  Formation after attempted visit to Guantanamo Bay

  [1]Witness Against Tortureen.wikipedia.org

  Twenty-five Americans traveled to Guantanamo Bay intending to visit the detention facility. Their inability to enter the camp led to the formation of Witness Against Torture.

A movement-based human rights advocacy organization that uses public witness and nonviolent direct action to oppose torture, indefinite detention, and the continued operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

• 2012White House Guantanamo protest

  United States

  Members demonstrated outside the White House to protest the continued detention system and demand action on Guantanamo.

  Outcome. Thirty-seven members were individually arrested after police warned them to clear the sidewalk.

  Source
• 2009100 Days Campaign

  United States

  Witness Against Torture participated in the concluding demonstration of a campaign supporting the closure of Guantanamo 100 days after President Obama’s executive order on the detention camp.

  Outcome. The April 30 demonstration resulted in the arrests of Carmen Trotta and approximately 60 other participants.

  Source
• 2005Witnessing at Guantanamo Bay

  United States · Cuba

  Twenty-five Americans traveled to Guantanamo Bay in an effort to visit the detention facility and witness conditions there. Although access was denied, the action gave the organization its name and established its campaign focus.

  Outcome. The group was unable to enter the detention facility, but the action led to the formation of Witness Against Torture.

  Source

1. 1Witness Against Tortureen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Witness Against Torture: the campaign to shut down Guantánamoopenlibrary.org