Guantanamo Blues

2015
Guantanamo Blues


January 11, 2015 marks 13 years since the opening of US detention
facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Supporters of human rights and due process are today joining together from all corners of the world to mark the event in the form of protests and peaceful actions. In Australia, Dr. Aloysia Brooks, torture prevention advocate, and songwriter and human rights advocate, Les Thomas, have released the song ‘Guantanamo Blues’, and included an open letter (below) to President Barack Obama calling for him to close Guantanamo, restore due process and human rights.

The song was written to raise awareness about the ongoing situation of those detained in the facility. Most of the 127 prisoners that remain have been cleared for release, but remain imprisoned without charge or trial. An unknown number of men are participating in a hunger-strike to protest their ongoing detention without charge or trial, and their conditions and treatment.

Upon the release of the summary of the US Senate Committee Report on the CIA torture program, there is a renewed call for the Obama administration to hold those who orchestrated the torture program to account.