January 11th: Write a Letter to the Editor
Writing a letter to the editor of your local paper is easy and can make a huge impact if published. Here are your three quick steps to making it happen:
1) LOOK UP YOUR NEWSPAPER'S CONTACT INFO.
2) WRITE YOUR LETTER. To help, we've given you some bullet points to write your own or tweak our sample letter:
- January 11, 2007 is the fifth anniversary of the arrival of first detainees to Guantánamo Bay.
- The vast majority of Guantánamo detainees have been for up to five years without charge or trial. Many of the detainees were handed over to the US in exchange for bounties.
- The US government has consistently tried to deny detainees the right to challenge their detention.
- Only 10 people have been charged with any crime.
- Harsh conditions and the sheer length of detention have led to the International Committee of the Red Cross—which is usually silent about its work—to condemn the conditions as amounting to cruel, inhuman and degrading (CID) treatment.
- Many detainees have attempted suicide, and three have died from apparent suicides.
- Allegations of torture and other abuses of detainees have not been adequately investigated.
- The United States government should close down Guantanamo and detainees should either be charged and given a fair trial, or released.
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