Remembering Archbishop Desmond Tutu 

We mourn the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This towering leader of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement embodied the fierce, love-based, universalist fight for liberation with which our organization identifies. “He had a moral compass that was unflinching in its evaluation of comrades as well as foes,” said our board member, Gay McDougall, who met the Archbishop in the 1980s when she was assisting in the defense of political prisoners in South Africa. “And he never hesitated to speak out in clear words and a thunderous voice, as demanded by his values.”

Archbishop Tutu was for decades a beacon to people fighting for justice across the globe – and a palpable threat to their oppressors. In so many of the world’s most urgent struggles for peace and liberation, no one’s words and actions had more moral force, whether he was championing LGBTQIA+ equality, opposing the U.S. invasion of Iraq, or condemning Israel’s occupation of Palestine, which he likened to apartheid in South Africa. 

While no one can replace him, we should all strive to live up to his example.

Join us for events marking 20 years of Guantánamo 

Disrupt, Confront, and Close Guantánamo: 20th Anniversary Virtual Rally
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 | 2–3:30 p.m.

Join us on January 11, 2022, for a virtual rally to mark 20 years since the Guantánamo Bay Prison was opened as part of the so-called global “War on Terror.”  

Co-sponsoring organizations: Amnesty International, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Victims of Torture, Witness Against Torture.

For more information and to register to attend, visit the event page on our website.

Rupture and Reckoning: 20 years of Guantánamo Anthology and Digital Art Exhibition Launch
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 | 11–1 p.m. ET

On the anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo on January 11, we would like to use the occasion to stimulate reflection upon the realities of Guantánamo with our partner’s publication and digital art exhibition.

The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) will host an online panel to discuss the impact of Guantánamo and the legal struggle for the detainees and lawyers involved, including those from the Center for Constitutional Rights. ECCHR has been working to fight the U.S. torture program for more than ten years.

Register for this event on the ECCHR website.

Guantanamo 20 Years on: A Religious Perspective
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 | 3–4:30 p.m.

Senior Staff Attorney J. Wells Dixon will speak at a virtual webinar organized by the Episcopal Church and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture to mark the 20th anniversary of the day the first detainees were sent to Guantánamo Bay. Many Guantánamo detainees were tortured by the U.S. government, and two decades after the prison opened most of the 39 people imprisoned there have never been charged with or tried for any crime. Join us to discuss why the prison at Guantánamo was opened, the human rights abuses that occurred there, the long-running failure of the military commissions process to provide justice, and what steps we, as people of faith, can take to close the prison for good.

Register to attend on our website.

Guantánamo, Off the Record: 20 Years in the Fight
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 | 3–4:30 p.m. ET

Join us for Guantánamo, Off the Record, where our staff will mark the 20th anniversary of the prison’s opening with candid reflections on two decades of work ‒ the victories, the losses, and everything in between. Lawyers and advocates will share stories that didn’t always make the headlines, but that helped define the ongoing struggle to close the forever prison.

For more information and to RSVP, head to our website.

Double your support and help us meet Katherine Franke’s matching challenge! 

Now you can double the impact of your contribution and honor the extraordinary legacy of Michael Ratner! Our dear friend Katherine Franke has generously offered to match up to $333,000 of all new and increased gifts to the Michael Ratner Campaign for the Next Generation! 

Together, we will continue to deepen our capacity to act as the go-to legal and advocacy partner of social justice movements; spend more time on the ground with our partners; and recruit, mentor, and train young movement lawyers and advocates!  

Check out our 2021 Annual Report and our Winter 2021 Newsletter to see some of what we are accomplishing together, and renew your support with a donation today.