Again and again we have brought Guantánamo out of the shadows and to the corridors of power at the White House, the Supreme Court, the Capitol and the Justice Department in Washington and to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the Times Square Recruiting Station in New York. We have also tried to reach the American people with a simple street theater that we developed and have performed in Times Square and Washington Square Park.

Marching as Guantanamo detainees—hooded and bound and wearing orange jumpsuits—is a tremendously powerful experience: both for those whose sight is obscured and whose steps are tentative, and for those who are reminded that far from their comfort zone there are men suffering at the hands of our government.

With these marches continuing to grow, we began to feel like marketers for a uniform manufacturer called National Textile (union made here in the United States). But the idea for marching as Guantanamo prisoners came from Denmark—where on "Independence Day," 300 people dressed all in orange, with a black sacks over their heads marched from the Danish Ministry of Defense in action in Copenhagen to the U.S. embassy. Here the procession stood still, singing the American hymn "Amazing Grace" in triple harmony. People there said that the U.S. guards were weeping at the sight and sound of it all.

At our inception, Witness Against Torture was a group of friends who-- as Americans and Catholics-- walked to Guantanamo to visit the prisoners, to perform a work of mercy, to respond to the victims of the war on terrorism.

Once we returned from that journey, we began to organize more broadly to shut down Guantanamo, working with interfaith, human rights and activists' organizations. We have planned a series of nonviolent direct actions to expose and decry the administration's lawlessness, build awareness about torture and indefinite detention amongst Americans and forge human ties with the prisoners at Guantanamo and their families.

December 5-17, 2005: Walk to Guantanamo to Visit the Prisoners.

March 1, 2006: March in Washington, DC for Ash Wednesday. A theatrical march as prisoners at Guantanamo from the Supreme Court, to Congress, to the Justice Department, to the White House. Nonviolent direct action at the White House.

April 29, 2006: The Anti-Torture Bloc marches in United for Peace and Justice "March for Peace, Justice and Democracy." More than 100 activists wearing orange t-shirts emblazoned with "Shut Down Guantanamo: End Torture." We walked behind a cage on wheels that held a hooded orange jump-suited prisoner-- representing the prisons where 100s of men remain tortured, abused and incarcerated.

May 1, 2006: Interfaith action to "Condemn Torture and Demand Justice for those Imprisoned at Guantanamo." More than 100 people participated in the Interfaith Service consecrating our day of action against torture. And then we began a silent, solemn procession to call on UN Ambassador John Bolton to join the growing consensus to shut down Guantanamo. With religious leaders of different faiths heading the procession, more than two hundred people walked across New York City to condemn the use of torture, mourn its victims, and resist its continuance.

July 15, 2006: International Day to Shut Down Guantánamo, called by CagePrisoners.com. Witness Against Torture organized demonstrations in a dozen cities around the country. And then, between giving talks, holding trainings and developing relationships with other groups, we began to organize for January 11, 2007...

January 11, 2007: A day which marked five years of illegal detention, torture and abuse at Guantanamo—we worked with other groups including the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Network and the Center for Constitutional Rights to organize an international day of action to shut down Guantanamo. From Birmingham, Alabama to Birmingham, UK; from Warsaw to Wichita; in Bahrain and Baltimore; people heeded the call and organized demonstrations to draw attention to the prisoners at Guantánamo. In Washington, DC, where the largest action took place, nearly 100 people entered the Federal Court House where the cases of Guantanamo detainees should be heard. We read the names of the men who have lost five years of their lives; we read their stories and testimonies of their torture. Most of us did not carry identification—choosing to symbolically and literally walk with a prisoner at Guantanamo through the legal processing once we were arrested.

While we were in Washington, the mother and brother of Guantanamo prisoner Omar Deghayes stood where Witness Against Torture had camped and prayed in the dust near the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo. Asif Iqbal, a survivor of 2 ½ years at Guantanamo was also there. "This is the closest I have been to my son in almost 5 years," said Zohra Zewawi, the mother of Guantanamo prisoner Omar Deghayes, as she stood in front of the gates of the prison on the Cuban side. "On the one hand I feel incredibly sad that I am so close but can't see or hold him; on the other hand I am happy because focusing the world's attention on this shameful place might help get my son out of prison."

Omar Deghayes was released from Guantanamo in mid-December 2007. In a statement, he said: "I am very, very happy to be home. I am very grateful to everybody who has helped me. I would have been happier if everybody in Guantanamo were released and that ugly, bad place was closed down, if not demolished." Since January 11, 2007, in New York City, Witness Against Torture, has been holding a Monthly Vigil to remind people of the prisoners at Guantanamo, their suffering and the injustice of their detention.

We developed a theater piece that we have performed in Times Square and Washington Square Park. For a write up and pictures of this, visit: http://antiauthoritarian.net/NLN/photo-gallery/2007_times_square/

In early September we participated in the War Resisters League's Operation No Recruit, and vigiled for a full day outside the Times Square Recruiting Station. For an account, go to: http://www.warresisters.org/reportsSept2007.html#12

And we were part of a group arrested near the United Nations when President Bush was speaking on September 25, 2007. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/260427

Our vigils continued throughout the Fall. Most recently on Saturday, December 23rd across from St Patrick's Cathedral in mid-town Manhattan.

The work continues and it is not the only work that we must do… But it a tremendous gift to still walk with so many good people as we work to shut down Guantanamo, end torture and affirm justice.

• Read our group statement from the 2005 March to Guantánamo.
• Read about the particpants in the 2005 March to Guantánamo.
• See photos of Witness Against Torture actions.