Gitmo, PA

By Julie Schwietert On May 29, 2008 · 4 Comments

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A few months back, I applied for a press pass to visit the U.S. military’s Guantanamo Bay outpost in Cuba. Though the application has yet to be approved, I just might be able to go to Gitmo this weekend…

Gitmo, Pennsylvania.

Amnesty International has announced the “Guantanamo Bay Cell Tour” in Philadelphia, which takes place this weekend, May 30-June 1.

The purpose of the tour is to give visitors a sense of what a “life-sized” cell at Gitmo is like, to raise awareness about detainees’ conditions, and to create protest videos to send to President Bush.

Amnesty requests that people interested in visiting RSVP. You can also register to volunteer– either as an organizer or activist… or as a temporary detainee (orange jumpsuit and all).

Events are also being held in Portland, ME.

If you can’t attend the cell tour but want to express an opinion against a continued U.S. presence in Gitmo, Amnesty has an online petition you can sign to denounce torture.

Photo: Amnesty International UK (creative commons)

About The Author

Julie Schwietert

Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.

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Tim Patterson

Thanks for the info Julie!

The existence of Guantanamo Prison is a disgrace, but just as important as closing the prison is making certain that current detainees have a safe place to go, and are not automatically turned over to repressive and corrupt dictatorships in places like Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Perhaps the UN would be willing to get involved if we asked nicely?
Julie

Tim-

You're absolutely right; thanks for pointing this out.

About a year ago, I read a depressing article in the NY Times about a group of Uighurs (ethnic minority Chinese) who had been detained at Gitmo for several years and who, upon their release, were sent to Albania… where they did not speak the language, had no family or social ties, and have essentially lived lives that were comparably horrible to GItmo. Here's an interesting story about them:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/…
http://www.matadortrips.com Tim Patterson

Thanks for the info Julie!

The existence of Guantanamo Prison is a disgrace, but just as important as closing the prison is making certain that current detainees have a safe place to go, and are not automatically turned over to repressive and corrupt dictatorships in places like Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Perhaps the UN would be willing to get involved if we asked nicely?
http://www.collazoprojects.com Julie

Tim-

You’re absolutely right; thanks for pointing this out.

About a year ago, I read a depressing article in the NY Times about a group of Uighurs (ethnic minority Chinese) who had been detained at Gitmo for several years and who, upon their release, were sent to Albania… where they did not speak the language, had no family or social ties, and have essentially lived lives that were comparably horrible to GItmo. Here’s an interesting story about them:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/06/10/after_guantanamo_a_new_limbo_begins/

Gitmo, PA

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