On Friday, January 12, 2024 Portlanders will gather for a rally and march calling once again to close down the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The US opened this “detention facility” on January 11, 2002, twenty-two years ago. Twenty-nine (29) people remain there. Most of the active military aspects of the “war on terror” have subsided and over 700 prisoners have been released. Many of those remaining have never been charged with a crime.

Guantanamo is seen as a blemish on human rights, including its history of torture and endless incarceration. Brigadier General Jackie Thompson of the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps recently said “Guantanamo is a symbol of what not to do” (Telesur, November 7, 2023). Efforts to shut down Guantanamo have been hampered by Congressional bills prohibiting funds being used to do so. Instead, America spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year to maintain this site of injustice.

The Friday Rally for Peace and Justice has been held weekly since November 2001. For the first 18.5 years it was coordinated by Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, and since March 2020 by Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group. Normally the rally begins at 5:00 PM; this event begins at 4:30 to underscore its importance.

Friday, January 12, 2024 at 4:30-6:00 PM
Pioneer Courthouse Square, SW Yamhill and Broadway
Portland, Oregon

This event is coordinated by Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group, cosponsored by Amnesty International Group 48.