To: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 

The White House 

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW 

Washington, DC 20500

From: Eight Former Guantánamo Prisoners (Mansoor Adayfi, Sabri Al-Qurashi, Ghaleb Al-Bihani, Moazzam Begg, Lakhdar Boumedien, Djamel Ameziane, Sami al-Haj, and Ahemd Erachidi) 

Dear Mr. President,

Please end the Trump-era policy of preventing artwork from leaving Guantánamo and release the captive art from the prison.

Arriving at Guantánamo was like entering a state between life and death. We were completely isolated from the rest of the world and became numbers in orange jumpsuits, caged 24/7. We spent years and years in those cages, unable to see life beyond those walls. Torture, hunger strikes, and isolation brought us closer to death and defined our imprisonment. The longer we stayed, the more we lost our sanity and ourselves.

In 2010, as part of a general improvement in living conditions when Obama failed to fulfill his promise to close the military prison, and as part of our negotiations with the camp administration, we were given access to an art class. 

For the first time, making art was no longer banned. 

From the very beginning, we made art. We had nothing, so we made art out of nothing. We drew with tea powder on toilet paper. We painted our walls with soap and carved Styrofoam cups and food containers. We sang, danced, recited poetry, and composed songs. But because of this change in rules, we now had real paper, pens, and paints—colors we hadn't seen for years. No longer did we have to hide our writings, paintings, poems, and songs—which had meant hiding parts of ourselves. No longer were we punished for painting or singing. We could reveal parts of ourselves that were missing.

You have to understand that what we got wasn’t just paper, pens, and paints. These were our tools to connect to our memories, to our previous lives, to nature, to the world, to our families. Art was our way to heal ourselves, to escape the feeling of being imprisoned and free ourselves, just for a little while. We made the sea, trees, the beautiful blue sky, and ships. We painted our hope, fear, dreams, and our freedom. Our art helped us survive.

And we shared our artwork. Artworks moved from one block to another in Camp 6, so we could all see each other’s work. We gave art to our lawyers and families as well as to guards and camp staff. Even the camp administration created a gallery to display our art to visitors, journalists, and delegations. We started to share our artwork with the world. Then, in 2017, after an exhibition in New York City, things changed.  

We wanted everyone to see this art, see its beauty. We wanted them to see how we used our artwork to fight injustice. But this message and increased public attention on the prison angered the Trump administration, which responded by banning anymore art from leaving Guantánamo. 

Please, Mr. President—don’t follow Trump’s lead. 

This art belongs to the artists. Its importance to them cannot be overstated. Moath Al-Alwi, who was cleared for release in January 2022, told his lawyer that he would rather his artwork be released than himself, “because as far as I am concerned, I’m done, my life and my dreams are shattered. But if my artwork is released, it will be the sole witness for posterity.” Khaled Qasim, who was cleared for release in July 2022, asked his brother in a call on August 3, 2022 to spread a message to the free people of the world: “I ask you all to help me to free my artwork from Guantánamo. My artworks are part of me and my life. If the US government does not agree to release my artwork, I will refuse to leave Guantánamo without my artwork.”

Art from Guantánamo became part of our lives and of who we are. It was born from the ordeal we lived through. Each painting holds moments of our lives, secrets, tears, pain, and hope. Our artworks are parts of ourselves. We are still not free while parts of us are still imprisoned at Guantánamo. 

Mr. President, end this Trump-era policy and free the artwork from Guantánamo.

Sincerely,

Mansoor Adayfi 

Sabri Al-Qurashi

Ghaleb Al-Bihani

Moazzam Begg

Lakhdar Boumedien

Djamel Ameziane

Sami al-Hajj

Ahmed Errachidi

Signatures in solidarity:

Amber Ginsburg, Tea Project & University of Chicago

Aaron Hughes, Tea Project & University of Illinois Chicago

Erin L. Thompson, Associate Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York)

Mariame Kaba, founder & director Project NIA

Michael Rakowitz, Art, Theory, Practice Department, Northwestern University 

Aliya Hussain, Advocacy Program Manager, Center for Constitutional Rights

Sue Udry, Defending Rights & Dissent

Molly Crabapple, Artist

Laurence Ralph, Author Torture Letters, Anthropology, Princeton University

Andy Worthington, Close Guantanamo

Thomas Wilner, Counsel of Record for the people imprisoned at Guantánamo in their cases before the Supreme Court in 2004 and 2008

Roger Waters, Musician 

Marc Falkoff, Guantanamo Lawyer, editor Poems from Guantanamo, and College of Law, Northern Illinois University

Erika Rappaport, Dept. of History, University of California Santa Barbara 

Monica Trinidad, Artist, The Lit Review podcast 

William Ayers, College of Education, University of Illinois Chicago (retired)

Bernardine Dohrn, Northwestern University School of Law

Laleh Khalili, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London 

Ronak K. Kapadia, Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Illinois Chicago

Lori Waxman, Art Critic, Chicago Tribune/Hyperallergic

James Yee, Former U.S. Army Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay

Audrey Petty, Invisible Institute

Sarah Ross, Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project & School of the Art Institute of Chicago 

Timmy Chau, Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project

Erica r. Meiners, Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project & Northeastern Illinois University

Aislinn Pulley, Chicago Torture Justice Memorials

Mary Zerkel, American Friends Service Committee

Antonio Aiello

Tali Ginsburg, Never Again Action

Saul Chernick, Artist 

Murray Ngoima, Artist

Gail Helt, former intelligence officer, CIA

Michelle Daly

Nancy Goodrich

Charlotte Bialek

Ade Bantu

danoy malika

Debi Cornwall, Artist

Bryony Mason

Lauren Arrington, Professor of English, Maynooth University, National University of Ireland

Molly T.

Peter Hoffmeister, Dept. of Art and Art History, Hunter College

Christopher Chen

Eric Hoppe

M. T. Anderson, National Book Award winner

Adeline Jérôme

M.E. Becker

Megan Narvey

Antonio Aiello

Julie Alley

Kristen Levine

Luh Natalia Granquist

Mary Krusi Dyke D'Rozario, artist and business owner

Peggy Monahan, curator

Kim Torres

Kate Hoffman, artist and art educator

Lynn Lieberman

Heather Thomas

Alexandra Kelly, University of Wyoming

Alyce Myatt

Claudia Swan

Dr Charles Nuckles

Meg Hogg, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Amanda Lascano

Brianna Vieira

Jen McKer

Bee davies

Antonio Aiello

Amy Isler Gibson, artist, Pacific Northwest

Manahyl K Shafi

Ann Greenfield

Kathryn Topper

Caroline Lagerfelt, Actor

Linda Leslie Brown, artist

Jennifer Mazzucco, Artist

Carolyn Purnell

Larry Siems

David S. East, Artist

Maggie Simon, artist & expressive arts facilitator

Gabriel Smith

Misty S. Sky

Deborah Mashibini-Prior

Mary O'Loughlin 

Nolan Winkler

Melody Tay

David Siffert

Lisa Hajjar, professor of Sociology, UCSB, author of The War in Court: Inside the Long Fight against Torture

Catherine Romatowski

Lillian Leibovich

Eric L

Christina Rivers

Mo Torres

melanie berzon

Joan Hirschfeld

Stephen Minnoch

Markfirah Krueng 

Jennifer Mazzucco

Kendra Christian 

Tabitha Jackson

Deborah J. Cornwall

Joshua Wagner, University of Chicago

Sherene Seikaly

susan c dessel

Timur Mamedov 

Mysoon RizkMysoon Rizk, Professor of Art History, The University of Toledo

Brenda Coughlin

Dr Deepa Driver, Trade Unionist and Academic, UK

M. Carmen Lane, Artist/Director, ATNSC: Center for Healing & Creative Leadership

Dvora Gordon

Donna Wingate

Rhoda Rosen, Red Line Service Institute & School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Ruth Liberman

Julie Yost

Nancy Talanian

H. Candace Gorman

Rick Fieldwick

Natalia Rivera Scott

Benita Coffey, OSB

Steve Brown, chaplain

Roberta Barry

Danielle Wallace

C G BOUTEAU

Mark Dow

Claude Marks, Freedom Archives

Valerie Lucznikowska, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Irene Heitsch

Karen Sjogren, private citizen

Jelica Roland

Selina Trepp

Ellen Franzen, citizen

Ed Charles, The World Can't Wait

Elizabeth L Miller

Lynda Leigh

Jessica Hope

M. Halstead

Elizabeth Choate

Charles Bernstein, Donald T. Regan Professor, Emeritus, of English and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania;
SUNY Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, University at Buffalo; Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Nora Ligorano, conceptual artist

John Oakes, publisher, The Evergreen Review

Marshall Reese, conceptual artist

Jenny Polak, artist

Dread Scott, artist

Hipólito Arriaga, Combat Hippies

Matthew Deibel, Iraq War Veteran, Artist

Anthony Torres, Iraq War Veteran 

Anna Minkiewicz

Carlos Sirah, writer

Kate Lorenz

Kevin Basl, Iraq War veteran

Tim Lacy, Instructor, Loyola University Chicago

Amber Zora, DEMIL Art Fund

Jay Youngdahl, Artist

NJ Peace Action

Alyssa Mattocks

David Zwirner

Jane Knechtel

Sebastian Köthe, Researcher 

Rhonda Lieberman

David Maruzzella (DePaul Art Museum) 

Deborah Lyons

Naomi Klionsky

Ionit Behar

Susan Nevelow Mart, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado School of Law

Edgar Gonzalez

Eric J. Garcia

Caleb Nelson

Cinnamon Stephens

Daniel Stein, Jindal Global Law School

Gloria Ledesma

Alison Merz

Angela Chiu

Andrew Silver, North Carolina Stop Torture Now

Sherry Millner, Artist

Christina Cowger, North Carolina Stop Torture Now

National Coalition Against Censorship

Joan Walsh, NC Stop Torture NOw

Deborah Tolson,  Veterans For Peace

Sierra Ramirez

Leslie Stem

Leah Bright, cultural heritage conservator 

Gabriel Schirvar 

Warren Wagner, member of #BoeingArmsGenocide campaign, student at UChicago

Rebec Velasquez, UChicago

Maia Johnson

Maya Holt

Meagan

Isabella Cook

Justine Li - AAPI artist

Olivia June Williams

Allison Beck

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

George Mason University 

Aubrey Zill

Emily McDonald 

Anisha Tammana

Eric Fishman

Kaitlin Walker

Cooper Stone

Susan Spivack

Pierre Joris

George J. Warco

Dr. Maha Hilal, Muslim Counterpublics Lab

Danielle Savage

Lore Weber

Kathryn Burns

Kris Garrity (Muslim Counterpublics Lab)

Saiyare Refaei

Gina Laff

Beth Awano

Daniel McDonagh, Teacher

Shaun Slifer, Justseeds Artists' Cooperative

William Hogan

Delaney Williams

Ellen Webster

  Elaine Becker

  Daniel Medina Occelli

  Patricia Wise

  Francesca Ciampa

  Herb Geraghty, Rehumanize International

  Alina Lilova

  Janet Nagel

  Helen Schietinger, Witness Against Torture

  Witness Against Torture

Colleen McCarthy

Jean Mont-Eton

David Miller

Joel Weisberg, Prof. Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy and the Natural Sciences, Carleton College

Ellen Homsey

Ron Mittan

Kathy Manley

Lois Jordan

Jacqueline Skill

Cynthia Papermaster, CODEPINK & No More Guantanamos

Guy Zahller

Elizabeth Enright

Brandon Juhl

Maure C Briggs

Paul Palla

katherine dander

Kenny Grosso

Ellen H Phillips

Phoenix

Ellen Connett

Anna Tangi

Joseph Naidnur

Martin Horwitz

Matt Cornell

Beatrice Williams-Rude

Tim Herman

Louis Fischer

Jessica Cresseveur

Omar

Glen Anderson

John E. Douglass, Jr.

mike caggiano

Ginger (Virginia) Donohue

JL Angell

michael k gertz

Lacey Hicks

Trisha Pahmeier

Tracy Rosenberg,

Anthony Albert

Grace Shimizu

Mark White

Matthew Thompson

Regis Burke

Carla Hess

Steven Solomon

Joan DeYoung

Juli Kring Amnesty International, local 23

Sua and John Morris

Susan L. Sloan, M.Ed.

Robert Janusko

Charity Moschopoulos

Steven James Vogel

John MCS

Alice Martineau

Christine Roane

David Stevens

Johanna Cummings

Valerie Justus-Rusconi

Jane Simpson

Brandon

Eric Robson

Susan Davenort

Pam Evans

Martha Rose Sommers

Brent Rocks

Brad Jolly

Shirlene Harris

Bill Holt

Lauren Linda

michael hall

Ruby Mitchell

Willow Chang

Chemen Ochoa

Elaine Becker

Peter Gunther, retired Archivist

Joyce Frohn

Josh Diamond

Karen Berger

Andrew Kurzweil

Matthew Lipschik

David Yanosik

Vicki Fox

J. Beverly

David Roy Williams

Donald Urso, Targeted RI

Joyce Lane

Marvin J Ward

Luis Vega

Ann Dorsey

Jim Yarbrough

Carlos Echevarria

Kevin Gallagher

bernardo alayza mujica

Brian M. Scott

Paul Rehm

Diana Bohn

AJ Cho

Justin Philipps

Steven Andrychowski

Dallas Windham

B Dudney, MD

Julie Skelton

Lori Stefano

Donald Goldhamer

Ryan Davis

Newland Smith

Walter Moczygemba

Burton Steck

Jesse Reyes

B Dudney, M.D.

Tim Jeffries

Dennis Trembly

Tika

Milo Matthews

Philip Ratcliff

Doug Wagoner

Elsa L Johnson

Michael Kast

Joel W. Quaintance

Michael W Evans

Kevin

Kev

Ira Gerard

sharon byers

Bruce

Nicole

John Lamperti

Shalomar Loving

Art Hanson

Brian Dalton

Diane H. Fabian

Wendi Myers

Julie Moentk

  LL Dored

 Caro Urquhart

 Carl Meyer

 Steven Lowenthal

 Linda Musmeci Kimball

 J Stewart

 S. Nam

 M. Virginia Leslie

 Colleen Curtis

 Aaron Tovo

 Jan Dietzgen

 Steve Lane

 Antonino Erba

 Kimmy Robinson

A.L. Steiner

Katie Raley

Cynthia Papermaster, CODEPINK San Francisco Bay Area

Katherine O'Connor

Griffin Wada

Mel Yiasemide