Our Mission
The mission of the Guantanamo Survivors Fund (GSF) is to support men who were imprisoned at the military detention center in Guantanamo Bay. We do this by raising money through public donations for the purpose of making grants to Guantanamo survivors and their families for housing, food, medical care, job training, and other basic necessities.
Our Vision
GSF envisions a world where all Guantanamo survivors have the resources they need to live with dignity in communities where they can raise a family, hold a job, and achieve some measure of security and normalcy.
What We Do
We raise money through tax-deductible donations from concerned individuals and provide grants to Guantanamo survivors in need. Our Steering Committee reviews requests on a rolling basis, schedules interviews, and awards grants to the extent that available funds permit.
Since we launched the fund in April 2022, we have raised more than $100,000, and we have used nearly all of those funds to help 40 men and their families with housing, health care, transportation, and more.
Hundreds more survivors need our help.
Your donation will help Guantanamo survivors overcome immediate hurdles and, we hope, help them on the path toward sustainable livelihoods
Our Story
The Guantanamo Survivors Fund grew out of the Coalition to Close Guantanamo, a group of large and small organizations jointly advocating for closure of the military prison, justice and reparations for prisoners and survivors, and accountability for those responsible for torture. Out of that group, members of No More Guantanamos, Witness Against Torture, and Muslim Counterpublics Lab reached out to Dan Norland (co-editor of Witnesses of the Unseen: Seven Years in Guantanamo, the joint memoir of Guantanamo survivors Lakhdar Boumediene and Mustafa Ait Idir), Beth Jacob (the founder and president of Healing and Recovery After Trauma) and Mansoor Adayfi (a Guantanamo survivor and the Guantanamo Project Coordinator for CAGE) to form the Guantanamo Survivors Fund.
Why the Guantanamo Survivors Fund was formed
Since the Guantanamo Bay military detention center opened on January 11, 2002 under the guise of the War on Terror, the United States government has detained 780 men and boys – most of them for years, without charge or trial – while subjecting them to torture and interrogation. The US government has since transferred over 740 of the men out of Guantanamo, but it has yet to exonerate or to apologize to any of them or provide them with any meaningful support and resources to rebuild their lives.
Many were sent to third countries, far from their families and friends, where the language and culture are foreign to them, and where they may lack legal status such as citizenship or the right to work or travel. Many live in poverty and struggle to address the mental and physical health issues they suffer from as a result of their torture and mistreatment at Guantanamo. In some cases, men were released from Guantanamo only to be imprisoned again when they arrived in their new country or, in several cases, in their native land. Life after Guantanamo also frequently comes with the stigma of the terrorist label and constant surveillance by the state – a life that can hardly be recognized as freedom.
In short, whether the men are returned to their home countries or are resettled elsewhere, most face significant hurdles to rebuilding their lives. The Guantanamo Survivors Fund seeks to provide immediate short-term support for their most urgent needs, such as medical care, medicines and living expenses, as well as the means to start small businesses.
Support dignity for Guantanamo survivors
Your donation will help Guantanamo survivors overcome immediate hurdles and, we hope, help them on the path toward sustainable livelihoods.