For Immediate Release: January 11, 2012
Contact: Samantha Friedman, office: (202) 265-3000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
NRCAT Joins Broad Coalition Opposing NDAA and Calling on President Obama to Keep His Promise and Shutter Guantanamo Bay Now
Groups mark 10th anniversary of first detainees imprisoned at
Guantanamo Bay with rally, human chain starting at White House;
military, legal, religious and 9/11 families among speakers’ list
Washington, D.C. – Today, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) participated in a day of national events in Washington its leadership helped plan to mark the 10th anniversary of the first detainees being jailed in the U.S-controlled detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The more than 50 organizations co-sponsoring the events in Washington united in a call for the government to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
Through a series of events , including a rally at Lafayette Park beginning at 12 p.m., a human chain, and an interfaith service, participants opposing the detention provisions in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that violate human rights gathered together in solidarity to urge President Obama to keep his promise and shut down Guantanamo, which has become a symbol of an era of torture for the U.S. government.
“Because the prison stands as an internationally recognized symbol of torture and our nation’s failure to respect the basic dignity inherent in all people, Guantanamo Bay does not make us safer but instead inspires those who seek to harm us,” said Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director of NRCAT, headquartered in Washington, D.C. “It endures as a legacy of a period in which our government put its fears ahead of our values.”
On behalf of NRCAT, Killmer addressed the crowd at the rally and was available for interviews before and after in front of the White House. The Washington events were part of several NRCAT is co-sponsoring across the country, including commemorations in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Ann Arbor.
Additional information on the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s efforts encouraging the United States government to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay is available at www.nrcat.org/close_guantanamo.
Today’s events are open to the public and the media. Details below:
Schedule for the day - Wednesday, January 11:
12 p.m. – Rally at Lafayette Square across from the White House (NRCAT Executive Director, Rev. Richard Killmer, will be one of the speakers)
1 p.m. – Public Witness/Human Chain – Led by 171 people in orange jumpsuits representing prison uniforms, the group marched up Pennsylvania Avenue, holding brief rallies at the Department of Justice, the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court, highlighting the chain of responsibility connecting the three branches of government. NRCAT supporters, together at the end of the line, paused at Freedom Plaza, then returned to outside of the White House for a vigil and additional speakers including Naeem Baig, Executive Director of the Islamic Circle of North America’s Council for Social Justice.
2:15 p.m. – Public Witness concludes
3 p.m. – Interfaith Service at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Radcliffe Room (first floor), 1313 New York Ave. NW (details & directions), led by Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, Director, Office of Public Witness, Presbyterian Church USA; Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, Director of North American Programs, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America; Sister Patricia Chappell, Executive Director, Pax Christi USA; and Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director for the Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America.
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