File:DC Guantanamo Protest Jan 2015-31.jpg

English: A couple hundred activists and supporters converged in front of the White House Sunday, January 11, 2015, the 13th anniversary of the opening of the prison camp at Guantanamo, in a protest sponsored by; Amnesty International USA, the Blue Lantern Project, CCR, CloseGitmo.net, CodePink, Council on American-Islamic relations, NRCAT National Religious Coalition Against Torture, Witness Against Torture, World Can’t Wait and others.

Many activists were dressed in the orange jumpsuits and black hoods that the men at Guantanamo wear at Guantanamo and while being tortured. Some held signs saying: FORCED FEEDING, INDEFINITE DETENTION, while others carried a bouquet of carnations.

One group read the first letter from Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo in 2003. Shaker remains in prison even though he’s been cleared for release in 2007. The PEACE POETS from the Bronx recited one of their poems with those dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods stood behind and in front; “We Want Justice!” “We are Powerful” “We are Together” then recited a poem called, “There is a Man under That Hood.”

Jeremy Varon from Witness Against Torture said, “The dream of closing Guantanamo may indeed become a reality. That hope is not based on some executive order or Presidential promise, or speech or vague confession that America drifted from it’s values.” “There’s nothing in the legal twisted machinery of Guantanamo that is responsible for these releases. No judge can compel the military to let men go, Congress has passed to no law saying, Set them Free, rather, every release has been in essence a political act meaning that at last the President is doing what we have long implored. Asserting his political will and exercising true leadership do what is right no matter how long over due.”

Debra Sweet emphasized that the opening of Guantanamo was not a mistake on the part of the Bush regime, but rather meant to send a message to the rest of the world - that while already illegitimately occupying Afghanistan, preparing to invade Iraq, and staging torture centers around the world, they could take anyone they wanted to, lock them up, and never release them.

After all the speakers were done the activists left the White House and marched over to the the Justice Dept. where 3 of the activists in orange jumpsuits and black hoods handed out the carnations to the crowd for them to offer it to the Dept. of Justice. Then the crowd made its way over to DC court central cell block where prisoners were below the ground of where the next set of speakers were standing. One of the Peace Poets led the crowd in a call & response, “We have the courage to see through the lies, ‘cause our hearts listen when the people cry.”

Ray McGovern, Andy Worthington (the British investigative journalist) and Debra Sweet of World Can’t Wait were all participants.