Dear Friends,

Monday, January 11th, marks the 19th anniversary of the day the first detainee was sent to Guantanamo Bay. Just days after the recent election in Georgia and for the first time since 2010, majorities in both houses of Congress, as well as the President-elect himself, all support closing the prison at Guantanamo. We need to do all we can to ensure that President-elect Biden follows through and tries or releases all detainees, ends indefinite detention without trial, and permanently closes the prison. Now is the time - we cannot wait another year when so many of the remaining 40 men held in Guantanamo have themselves waited for a decade and a half or more without having ever been charged with or tried for any crime.

You can help:

• Write to your Members of Congress asking them to do their part to close Guantanamo. 
• Write a short letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Letters to the editor are among the more popular parts of newspapers and are read by many people. Letters to the editor printed in their states or districts are also read by congressional staff and Members of Congress themselves. Talking points and tips for drafting your letter can be found here. 
• On January 11th, write a social media post with one of these prayers or this action alert asking people to contact their Members of Congress.
• Consider holding an online vigil or other event in January for members of your local faith community who would like to remember those held in Guantanamo. Please contact my colleague T.C. if you are hosting an event that NRCAT could help advertise.

On January 11th, you are invited to join one of these online events: NRCAT is co-sponsoring an online rally organized by ICUJP and other Los Angeles partners at 10am PT. NRCAT partners are holding a 19 Years of Guantanamo: Remembering the Men Detained vigil at 11am ET and a Rights or Rightlessness? The Lives of Men Imprisoned at Guantánamo webinar at 5pm ET.

Thank you for your commitment to closing Guantanamo and ending indefinite detention.

Sincerely,

Matt Hawthorne 
Policy Director
National Religious Campaign Against Torture

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