Anonymous demands get out of jail free card (for Guantanamo Bay prisoners)

Week to week Anonymous seems to actively get involved with an issue that may or may not be completely unrelated to other issues they’re interested in. Anonymous is such a big and diverse group not restricted to one particular entity or location, that multitasking is something they do quite well. It’s tough to say that about any organization, especially one without discernible leadership or official meetings but Anonymous pulls it off better than any group I’ve seen or read about.

Anonymous’ latest interest is the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and the recent 100 day hunger strike by the prisoners. Apparently, the prisoners here are being treating unfairly by being physically abused and not being released when they should be. In protest, many of the prisoners have decided not to eat. “Out of the camp’s 166 detainees, 102 are currently taking part in the hunger strike” (OpGTMO…). That is a significant portion of the prison’s population and their protest has gotten a lot of people’s attention, including Anonymous.

Being that the prisoners feel that have little rights to begin with, they believe starving is the only way to express their first amendment rights.  Waging Nonviolence, a newpaper?, reports that “[A prisoner] starving himself […] is the only way he has to exercise his first amendment rights and to protest his conviction. Not eating is his only available free speech act” (Murphy). What’s profound is the prisoners have to abstain from a basic human need and instinct in order to raise a point and try to bring justice to their situation.

The United Nations has gotten involved saying that the prisoners being force-fed “constitutes a flagrant violation of international human rights law and in itself constitutes a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment” (DisplayNews). Of course, they carefully chose not to label the acts of the people in charge of the prison as pure torture, but it clearly is view by many as such.

So, how is Anonymous directly getting involved? Anonymous is taking to social media sites as usual to spread the word that Guantanamo needs to be shut down. Also, “protests were held outside the White House demanding the camp’s closure” (OpGTMO). On mother’s day, Anonymous urged people to call Michelle Obama and tell her that the prisoners in Guantanamo have Mother’s too. Quite a daring and bold move on Anonymous’ part but would definitely get President Obama’s attention, who in 2009 claimed he would shut down the camp.

This issue isn’t being taken lightly by Anonymous. Many of the prisoners have apparently had the right to be released up to several years ago. Unwarranted captivity definitely stirs Anonymous the wrong way.

According to an inside source, the “OpGTMO's detailed prep work and international coalition of forces, both inside and outside of Anonymous, might make the Israel op look tame in comparison” (Murphy). Anonymous’ plan is to get enough support to shut down Guantanamo completely and judging on their resources and sheer determination, they just might do it.

Works Cited

"DisplayNews." DisplayNews. United Nations, 1 May 2013. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13278>.

Murphy, Lorraine. "Anonymous Launches Campaign to Close Gitmo for Good." The Daily Dot. N.p., 17 May 2013. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://www.dailydot.com/politics/anonymous-opgtmo-close-gitmo-guantanamo-bay/>.

"OpGTMO: Anonymous Launches Global Anti-Gitmo Action - RT News." OpGTMO: Anonymous Launches Global Anti-Gitmo Action - RT News. N.p., 17 May 2013. Web. 20 May 2013. <http://rt.com/news/anonymous-guantanamo-protest-opgtmo-423/>.