200 Days of Guantánamo Hunger Strike Twitter Storm Package: 6pm BST today!

#GTMO200 Twitter storm Package!

ATTENTION!!!!!

** DO NOT BEGIN TWEETING UNTIL 13:00 EST/ 12:00 CST/ 18:00 BST/ 19:00 CET **

Objective:

Raise awareness through social media that the current Guantanamo Bay hunger strike has now reached the 200-day mark. The mainstream media has overlooked the seriousness of the issue and the US government has responded with increased violence and repression of prisoners held without charge and trial for almost 12 years.

Date & Time: Sunday, 25 August:  13:00 EST/ 12:00 CST/ 18:00 BST/ 19:00 CET

Length: 1 hour

Instructions:

Copy + Paste these tweets. Do NOT retweet, the hashtag will not trend.

If you are writing your own tweets, make sure to include the #GTMO200 hashtag!

  

Suggested Tweets:

#GTMO200 "A growing feeling here is that death is the road out of Guantanamo" http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/03/06/a-growing-feeling-here-that-death-is-the-road-out-of-guantanamo/ #GitmoHungerStrike

 

#GTMO200 @BarackObama close Guantanamo or give back your Nobel peace prize

#GTMO200 Guantanamo is a crime against humanity

#GTMO200 200 days of #GitmoHungerStrike – how has it come to this?

#GTMO200 @barackobama show us a change we can believe in - shut down Guantanamo, make good on your promises

#GTMO200 @David_Cameron @FCOHumanRights why is #ShakerAamer still held without charge or trial at #Guantanamo after almost 12 years?

#GTMO200 having lunch with @BarackObama at #Guantanamo these days ain't no picnic #closegitmo pic.twitter.com/Mk6z4PKlG5” #London

#GTMO200 "‘US support for human rights merely a show’ – relatives of Yemeni Gitmo detainee" http://rt.com/news/gitmo-detainee-yemen-relatives-244/  #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 Adnan Latif deceased hunger striker died due to "Widespread Breakdown of Safeguards at Gitmo" http://www.aljazeera.com/humanrights/2013/07/20137324426228887.html

#GTMO200 hunger strikes can lead to long-term health problems, organ failure and fatalities #GitmoHungerStrike #CAHungerStrike

#GTMO200 “Guards are sexually assaulting me, says the last Briton in Guantanamo Bay” #ShakerAamer http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/guards-are-sexually-assaulting-me-says-the-last-briton-in-guantanamo-bay-8740739.html

#GTMO200 ‘#Gitmo is Killing Me’ #SamirMoqbel http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0 #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 ‘I will not eat until they restore my dignity.’ #SamirMoqbel http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0

#GTMO200 ‘I have never been charged with any crime. I have never received a trial.’ #SamirMoqbel #Gitmo http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0

#GTMO200 ‘I can’t describe how painful it is to be force-fed this way.’ #SamirMoqbel #GitmoHungerStrike http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0

#GTMO200 ‘I would not wish this cruel punishment upon anyone.’ #SamirMoqbel #GitmoHungerStrike http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/hunger-striking-at-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0

#GTMO200 'I hope that because of the pain we are suffering,the eyes of the world will once again look to Guantánamo before it is too late.'

#GTMO200 ‘Death is Preferable to Life at Obama’s Guantanamo’ http://www.marjoriecohn.com/2013/05/death-is-preferable-to-life-at-obamas.html #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 hunger strikes can kill: 8 of 9 deaths of prisoners at #Guantanamo were previous hunger strikers,died in "suspicious circumstances"

#GTMO200 @BarackObama ‘I don't want these individuals to die’… so I will force feed them instead #GitmoHungerStrike #CAHungerStrike

#GTMO200 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-23583123 Grandmother's hunger strike for Guantanamo Bay's #ShakerAamer @widowsforpeace

#GTMO200 'I am meant to sleep on concrete, and when I say alone, I mean alone in a very lonely world' #ShakerAamer http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319550/Guantanamo-Bay-British-inmate-Shaker-Aamer-describes-torture-humiliation.html 

#GTMO200 ‘When you’ve  not eaten for two months or more, having any food sit around in the cell is pure torture’ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319550/Guantanamo-Bay-British-inmate-Shaker-Aamer-describes-torture-humiliation.html

#GTMO200 #ShakerAamer ‘I often quote 1984 by George Orwell ‘Torture is for torture, the System is for the System.’’ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319550/Guantanamo-Bay-British-inmate-Shaker-Aamer-describes-torture-humiliation.html

#GTMO200 ‘I do sometimes worry that I am going to die in here.’ #ShakerAamer http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319550/Guantanamo-Bay-British-inmate-Shaker-Aamer-describes-torture-humiliation.html

#GTMO200 Gitmo hunger striker: 'What more can they do to me?' http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/26/world/europe/uk-guantanamo-hunger-shaker-aamer #ShakerAamer

#GTMO200 PJ Harvey Releases New Track 'Shaker Aamer' for Guantanamo Detainee  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pj-harvey-releases-new-track-shaker-aamer-for-guantanamo-detainee-20130804 #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 PJ Harvey’s Harrowing & Brilliant Protest Song in Support of Guantanamo Prisoner Shaker Aamer http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/08/07/pj-harveys-harrowing-brilliant-protest-song-in-support-of-shaker-aamer/

#GTMO200 @FrankieBoyle goes on hunger strike to support #ShakerAamer - the last British detainee in Guantánamo Bay http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/frankie-boyle-goes-on-hunger-strike-to-support-shaker-aamer--the-last-british-detainee-in-guantnamo-bay-8720221.html

#GTMO200 @FrankieBoyle hunger strike in support of #ShakerAamer http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23389757 #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 Judge: Only @BarackObama has the power to end the force feeding at #Guantanamo #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 #ThankManning for the#Guantanamo Files www.wikileaks.org/gitmo

#GTMO200 #NabilHadjarab, un triste anniversaire: a birthday while on hunger strike http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Nabil-Hadjarab-un-triste-anniversaire-522209

#GTMO200 Guantánamo Bay: the US was dead wrong, but no one can admit it #JohnGrisham http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/john-grisham-guantanamo-bay-us-wrong #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 Obama a failli ; la France, elle, faillit : le cas de #NabilHadjarab http://www.newsring.fr/monde/250-fermer-guantanamo-obama-a-t-il-failli/48689-obama-a-failli-la-france-elle-failli-le-cas-de-nabil-hadjarab

#GTMO200 @BarackObama this is a hunger strike, not Weightwatchers; it’s not about the numbers, it’s the years of indefinite detention & torture

#GTMO200 don’t forget the prisoners on hunger strike at #Guantanamo and in #California #GitmoHungerStrike #CAHungerStrike

#GTMO200 more than half of remaining 166 #Guantanamo prisoners cleared for release – why not let them go home?

#GTMO200 in almost 12 years of #Guantanamo, only a handful of charges and even less convictions and even those can be appealed

#GTMO200 @BarackObama you know #Guantanamo is not working, so why not close it down?

#GTMO200 200 Days of Shame http://onesmallwindow.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/100-days-of-shame/

#GTMO200 This little girl’s father is also on hunger strike in Iraq http://onesmallwindow.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/starved-of-justice-in-iraq-american-prisoner-on-hunger-strike/

#GTMO200 the system ain’t work and the hunger strike has now spread to #California #GitmoHungerStrike #CAHungerStrike

#GTMO200 @BarackObama do you even know what the #GitmoHungerStrikers’ demands are?

#GTMO200 They are artists of torture, They are artists of pain and fatigue, They are artists of insults and humiliation - #Adnan Latif 1/3

#GTMO200 Where is the world to save us from torture? Where is the world to save us from the fire and sadness? - #AdnanLatif 2/3

#GTMO200 Where is the world to save the hunger strikers? - #AdnanLatif 3/3

#GTMO200 #AdnanLatif died at #Guantanamo September 2012, former hunger striker http://witnesstorture.org/survivors/adnan-farhan-abdul-latif/

#GTMO200 Shock video ft. Mos Def re-enacts gruesome Gitmo-style force-feeding http://rt.com/news/gitmo-forced-feeding-video-846/ @mosdefofficial

#GTMO200 Mos Def Force-Fed Gitmo Detainee Style  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK6syRI7R20 #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) force-fed under standard Guantánamo Bay procedure – video http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2013/jul/08/mos-def-force-fed-guantanamo-bay-video

#GTMO200 How we marked 100 days of the #GitmoHungerStrike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_5YQv9KjB4

#GTMO200 100 days ago…outside US Embassy #London http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll2Fi36bIz4

#GTMO200 @chunkymark on the #GitmoHungerStrike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhuqkjJ4FcI

#GTMO200 Still Starving for Justice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AONNMwej8Yk #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 How we marked 3 months of the #GitmoHungerStrike…now day 200!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW_vq20W-k4

#GTMO200 speaking on day 100 of #GitmoHungerStrike this little girl’s father is still on hunger strike in Iraq http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtOpPRm9CKU

#GTMO200 And what about the prisoners at #Bagram @BarackObama?

#GTMO200 The hunger strike song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKFqCI6bIs0 #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 @BarackObama end the hunger strike & #closegitmo

#GTMO200 that’s another fine mess you’ve gotten us into @BarackObama #GitmoHungerStrike #CAHungerStrike

#GTMO200 force feeding is torture, says the UN http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/02/guantanamo-bay-force-feeding-inhuman-un

#GTMO200 almost 12 years without charge or trial & indefinite detention? This is a hostage crisis

#GTMO200 @BarackObama the prisoners at #Guantanamo who you hold without charge or trial or evidence have families too

#GTMO200 Guantánamo Bay 'is a two-finger salute to the rest of the world' http://wp.me/p2xnH0-3S #GitmoHungerStrike

#GTMO200 How we marked 100 days of the #GitmoHungerStrike in the UK: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/britains-got-compassion-round-up-of.html

#GTMO200 Revised Guantanamo force-feed policy exposed http://www.aljazeera.com/humanrights/2013/05/201358152317954140.html #GitmoHungerStrike

-------------------

Why this Twitter storm?

Saturday 25 August marks day 200 of the current hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay. A protest that started in February 2013 against worsening conditions of detention and perpetual indefinite detention without charge or trial that has already lasted almost 12 years for almost all the prisoners, the response was first denial, followed by repression and torture, through the use of solitary confinement, the removal of personal items from cells, beatings, physical searches tantamount to rape, the use of plastic bullets, force feeding by nasal tube and other forms of disproportionate pressure against debilitated prisoners.

While the number of prisoners reported to be on hunger strike more than six months later has fallen to around 40, with several dozen being force fed, this does not mean that the hunger strike is any closer to ending. Promises made by President Obama to look into the issue and the detention of prisoners again have yet to produce any concrete results three months later. Although he recently appointed an official within the State Department to look into the release of prisoners, he had fired the person he had previously chosen to do this job in 2009 a week before this year’s hunger strike started.

Many people are still unaware of this hunger strike and the mainstream media has played down its importance, focusing mainly on the process of force feeding and the use of force and less on the reasons for the hunger strike and the prisoners’ legitimate demand to know why they are still held there after almost 12 years without any charges against them or prospects of release. Hunger strikes can be fatal and cause long-term serious health problems.

Please join us to raise awareness and show solidarity with the Guantánamo hunger strikers. Follow us on Twitter @shutguantanamo

Sunday 25 August: London Guantánamo Campaign to mark 200 days of Guantánamo Hunger Strike

The current ongoing hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay will enter its 200^th day on 25 August. To show solidarity with the prisoners and their families, and to raise awareness of their plight, the London Guantánamo Campaign will mark this date with two actions:

1: Action at the Notting Hill Carnival

Between 1 and 3pm, the London Guantánamo Campaign will visit the Notting Hill Carnival in west London with activists wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods and raising awareness about the hunger strike among the general public.

The Carnival is attended by over one million people each year and is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness, as well as coinciding with this date. We last held an action at the Notting Hill Carnival in 2008 when campaigning for local resident Binyam Mohamed; he returned to the UK in early 2009. His return was sought at the same time as that of Shaker Aamer, who remains at Guantánamo Bay, and on hunger strike. Why has he not returned as well?

We are looking for volunteers for this action. Please get in touch with us if you are attending and would like to get involved: by e-mail london.gtmo@gmail.com

2: Twitter storm at 6pm BST/ 1pm EST

The London Guantánamo Campaign will also hold a Twitter storm at 6pm BST to raise awareness. Full details will be provided on our website with the relevant hashtag and tweets for this purpose closer to the time. You can take part if you are on Twitter from anywhere in the world on an electronic device with internet access. Check out our website: www.londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @shutguantanamo

Please contact us at the above e-mail address if you require any further details.

The current hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay has been ongoing since 6 February this year. While the number of prisoners taking part has recently been reported to have fallen to around 50 from a reported maximum of over100 prisoners, out of the remaining 166, held almost wholly without charge or trial for nearly12 years, this does not mean that the hunger strike is close to ending. Instead, the US now faces a larger hunger strike of over 1000 prisoners in California and has this week ruled to allow prisoners on hunger strike in prolonged solitary confinement there to be force fed in the same manner as at Guantánamo Bay. Join our actions and show your solidarity.

On 17 March, the London Guantánamo Campaign held the first demonstration anywhere in support of the Guantánamo hunger strikers http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/emergency-demonstration-protest.html and on the weekend of 17-19 May, we led an international weekend of action to mark the 100^th day of the hunger strike http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/britains-got-compassion-round-up-of.html

It is unfortunate that we will soon mark the 200^th day of this dangerous and life-threatening action by prisoners held as hostages by the US administration for almost 12 years.

Join us in taking action – if you are planning an action elsewhere in the UK, please let us know about it.

Guantánamo Hunger Strike Twitter Storm Package: 4pm BST today!

ATTENTION!!!!!

********* DO NOT BEGIN TWEETING UNTIL 11:00 EST/ 12:00 CST/ 16:00 BST/ 17:00 CET *********

#GitmoFreedomStrike Twitterstorm Package!
Objective:
Raise awareness through social media that Guantanamo Bay is still open and at least 130 of the remaining 166 prisoners have been on hunger strike since 6 February
Date & Time: Saturday, 6 April:  11:00 EST/ 12:00 CST/ 16:00 BST/ 17:00 CET
Length: 1 hour
Instructions:
Copy + Paste these tweets. Do not retweet, the hashtag will not trend.
If you are writing your own tweets, make sure to include the #GitmoFreedomStrike hashtag!
 Suggested Tweets:
#GitmoFreedomStrike is the only way out of Guantanamo in a coffin? http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/03/06/a-growing-feeling-here-that-death-is-the-road-out-of-guantanamo/
#GitmoFreedomStrike @BarackObama close Guantanamo or give back your Nobel peace prize 
#GitmoFreedomStrike @barackobama @whitehouse How many years must Guantanamo exist before the prisoners can be set free?

Whose hunger strike gets more attention?

#GitmoFreedomStrike @barackobama @DeptofDefense 130 prisoners at Guantanamo close to death: how long can you ignore them? And why? 
#GitmoFreedomStrike @barackobama show us a change we can believe in - shut down Guantanamo, make good on your promise
#GitmoFreedomStrike @guardian @BBCNews @CNN thanks for keeping us in the dark/ ignorance is strength pic.twitter.com/ykO5XrOqrY 
#GitmoFreedomStrike @DeptofDefense @icrc_dc this is a hunger strike, not Weightwatchers; arbitrary detention, not a prison sentence
#GitmoFreedomStrike hungry for freedom, starving for their rights: 130 Guantanamo prisoners on hunger strike since 6 February 
#GitmoHungerStrike @foreignoffice @Number10gov Shaker Aamer lost 30lb, on hunger strike for 3 months, what are you doing about it?
#GitmoFreedomStrike 11 years without charge or trial, with injustice and torture, 3 months on hunger strike - close Guantanamo now 
-------------------

Why this Twitter storm?
Saturday 6^th April marks the third month of the current hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay, in response to worsening treatment of prisoners and desperation after over 11 years of detention without charge or trial for most of the prisoners. While the US military has retracted its original position denying any hunger strike, it now admits that around 40 men have been refusing food, with 11 being force fed to keep them alive. Lawyers for the prisons have consistently put that number at around 130, out of the 166 prisoners still held there; only the weak and elderly are not taking part. 

Lawyers having visited their clients recently have reported that the situation is “increasingly desperate”: the temperature has been turned down, water is being rationed to the hunger strikers and non-hunger strikers have been isolated to put pressure on those protesting. Blankets and additional clothing they may have has also been confiscated from them.

Most of the world is oblivious to what is going on due to poor reporting in the media. To raise awareness and show solidarity with the hunger strikers, the London Guantánamo Campaign will be leading an international Twitter storm at 11:00 EST/ 16:00 BST/ 17:00 CET for one hour. Further details, including the relevant hashtag and suggested tweets, will be provided here closer to the time. Please check here on Saturday for further information and details. You can follow the London Guantánamo Campaign on Twitter @shutguantanamo