Photo Credit: Robert Corsini/Videocratic Media

Close Guantanamo NOW!

Join us in-person:
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Downtown LA Federal Building,
300 N. Los Angeles St.,
Los Angeles 90012
12:00 - 1:30 pm Pacific Time
Free and open to all

Please join ICUJP and allies in-person Thursday, January 11, 2024, to mark 22 years of existence of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and the human rights violations and torture it spawned.

At its peak, the illegal detention center at Guantanamo Bay held some 800 men and boys of Muslim faith - most of whom were never charged with a crime. Today, 35 prisoners still languish there.

After the Guantanamo Bay prison camp was opened, the Bush Administration commissioned the torture memos, a series of documents designed to retroactively provide a pseudo-legal justification for crimes against humanity. To date no one in the Bush administration has been called to account for writing and implementing these documents, and the mainstream media has seemed to forget about what those torture documents have meant to subsequent administrations and the liberties our military and elected officials have taken in illegal detention and torture.

Let's send a message to President Biden:

Close Guantanamo NOW and release all detainees!
End torture NOW and prosecute the torturers and those who authorized them.

Speakers:

• Annie Ehler, Jewish Voice for Peace
• Jim Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild LA
• Mohammad Tajsar, ACLU of Southern California
• Shaheen Nassar, CAIR
• Shakeel Syed, South Asian Network
• Lisa Hajjar, UC Santa Barbara
• Vincent DeStefano, Assange Defense Network
• Ysabel Gonzalez, Code Pink
• Shane Que Hee, Out Against War
• Mark Friedman, LA US Hands Off Cuba Committee

Co-sponsors:                                            

National Religious Campaign Against Torture • St.Camillus Center for Spiritual Care •  Shane Que Hee • Amnesty International USA

Endorsers:

ACLU of Southern California •
Addicted To War • Cafe Intifada • Center for Constitutional Rights • CloseGuantanamo.org
Code Pink • Courage to Resist
CIA torture whistleblower John Kiriakou • If the SHU Fits Collaborative • 90.7 KPFK • LA Laborfest
LA US Hands Off Cuba Committee • North Carolina Stop Torture Now • No More Guantanamos • Out Against War • Pax Christi USA • Clive Stafford Smith, author of "Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side: Seeking Justice in Guantanamo Bay" • WE Empowerment Center • Witness Against Torture • World Can't Wait

Please assist ICUJP in fulfilling its mission:
Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence
 

ICUJP has been featured on a few different media venues over the last few weeks - ICUJP Chairperson Steve Rohde was interviewed on KPFK's long-running program "The Lawyers Guild", hosted by Jim Lafferty and Maria Hall. The program also featured legal scholar and ICUJP supporter Marjorie Cohn.

You can listen to the program here:

Steve was also interviewed by Jason DeRose of NPR on the difficulty in making definitive statements about the Israel/Hamas tragedies that do not get misinterpreted by either side.

He was interviewed along with Tahil Sharma, an interfaith minister with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, as well as Phoebe Milliken of Hartford International University, and you can listen to that segment here.

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22nd Anniversary of ICUJP: 22 years of working for Justice and Peace

Twenty-two years ago, Rev. George Regas of All-Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena reached out to clergy, community leaders, and laypeople to come together to seek an alternative to the fear-mongering and vengefulness sweeping much of our nation in the wake of September 11. The message that they wanted to convey was coherent and powerful: “Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence.” On that day, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace was born.

These past 22 years have been a journey for ICUJP - five Presidents, four California Governors, and numerous crises and issues that would shake the resolve of even the most devout and dedicated of activists. But through it all, we go forward in our mission to be the voice for "the least of these", and our determination to create the change we want to see in the world.

On Sunday, September 10th, 2023, ICUJP honored Rev. George Regas's life and legacy, and recognized deserving organizations with the 2023 George F. Regas Courageous Peacemaker Award. As our theme was "Housing is a Human Right", we were glad to shine a light on the work of Making Housing and Community Happen, All-Saints Church Safe Haven Bridge to Housing, the Office of Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles, and the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center.

Thank you for your part in keeping the vision of George F. Regas alive as we continue creating a place to gather, organize, pray, and act together united by the fundamental principle that Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence.

Please consider helping Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace in its mission. ICUJP operates as a largely volunteer organization with a small part-time paid staff. We have survived for over 20 years through the generosity of individuals and organizations like you. Like so many other organizations, our ability to raise donations has been hampered during the COVID pandemic.  

Please assist ICUJP in fulfilling its mission:
Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing War and Violence