Fast for Justice

On January 11, 2011 — the beginning of the tenth year the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — people will come from across the country to Washington D.C. to begin an eleven-day, liquid-only Fast for Justice demanding that Guantanamo close and torture end.
St. Stephen's Church (1525 Newton Street NW, Washington, DC 20010 ) will be our home for the fast. Accommodations at the Church will be simple, and people should bring their own sleeping bag, sleeping pad and towels. We can arrange beds with local folks for those who request them. Be in touch if you have any specific housing needs. (daloisio@riseup.net)

Please remember to bring sufficient winter clothing; we will be spending time outdoors each day.As most of the group staying at St. Stephen’s will be fasting from January 11– January 22, no food will be provided. We will have liquids to drink, but if you'd like to bring some for yourself or to share with the community, please do.

Fasting is an important part of many religious and spiritual traditions. It has been used, notably by Mahatma Gandhi, as an expression of political principle, with the power to move hearts and minds and change policies. And it has a particular connection to Guantanamo, where dozens of inmates engaged in hunger strikes to protest their abuse. Honoring all these traditions and meanings, the Fast for Justice is:

• an act of moral witness — against the crime and sin of torture, indefinite detention, rendition, and the denial of legal and human rights
• a political demand — that Guantanamo close, tortured be definitively banned, and that all U.S. detainees receive true justice and equality before the law
• an act of solidarity — with the suffering of the men, boys, and women, whether in Guantanamo or other U.S. detention facilities around the world
• an act of atonement — for our nations’ violation of domestic and international law, human rights, and its own principals,
• an expression of hope — that President-Elect Obama will honor his words by closing Guantanamo and banning torture in his first days of office
• an act of renewal — that calls America back to its senses and to its core values; that seeks to make those values stronger, inviolable; and which helps to reconnect America to the peoples of the world
• Participants in the Fast for Justice will be participating in vigils, lobbying, and public events in and around Washington, DC over the course of the fast.