Thousands in the US and many more around the world demanded that the Bush administration SHUT DOWN Guantanamo and END torture. Initial reports show a wide range of people wearing orange everywhere in a variety of actions.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2008
DIRECT ACTION TODAY DEMANDED SHUT-DOWN OF GUANTANAMO AND AN END TO TORTURE AND INDEFINITE DETENTION
WASHINGTON, DC – Early this afternoon, 70 activists organized by
Witness Against Torture delivered a message to the U.S. Supreme Court
demanding the shut-down of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo and justice
for those detained there. 35 activists were arrested inside the Court
building and another 35 on the steps. The arrests followed a solemn
march from the National Mall of 400 persons that included a procession
of activists dressed like the Guantánamo prisoners in orange jumpsuits
and black hoods – part of an International Day of Action that was
endorsed by over 100 groups and that included 83 events around the
world.
Inside, a member of Witness Against Torture delivered a letter to
the nine Supreme Court justices regarding Al Odah v. United States and
Boumediene v. Bush, the two cases brought by Guantánamo detainees that
they are now considering, along with a writ of habeas corpus for each
of the 275 current detainees. Other activists attempted to unfurl a
banner inside the Court building but were prevented from doing so by
police, who began arresting them and shut the front doors to the
building. Another group then started reading the names of the
Guantánamo prisoners, but were prevented, whereupon they sat down and
started chanting, “Shut It Down!” prior to being arrested.
At approximately the same time, activists dressed in orange
jumpsuits and black hoods representing the men imprisoned at
Guantánamo, knelt on the steps of the Court building and eight others
unfurled a banner on the steps. They were arrested as well. Each
arrestee had previously surrendered his or her ID, and was taken into
custody under the name of one of the Guantánamo prisoners.
“This group brought the names of the victims of Guantánamo right to
the Supremem Court,” said Elizabeth McAlister, a member of the Jonah
House community in Baltimore and the mother of one of the persons
arrested inside the Court. “The Court has listened and listened to the
views of the imprisoned, but ha not heard them.”
Outside the Court, advocates read testimonies and names of
prisoners, performed street theater, and handed out information. One
performance was a simulation of waterboarding, one of the most
controversial torture tactics used at Guantánamo and in other U.S.
detention centers.
January 11, 2008 marks six years of detention without hope of
release for nearly 300 men at Guantánamo. “Lawyers are working hard to
bring the cases of the prisoners into the courts,”said Susan Crane of
the Jonah House Community, who participated in today’s action. “But
lawyers can only do so much. These prisoners, who have been illegally
detained, tortured, abused, and kept from their families for years, are
not even able to communicate openly with their lawyers. Thats why we
were here today to appeal to the Supreme Court justices to stand up now
and end this abuse.”
Witness Against Torture is calling on the U.S. government to:
* Repeal the Military Commissions Act and restore Habeas Corpus;
* Charge and try or release all detainees;
* Clearly and unequivocally forbid torture and all other forms of
cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, by the military, the CIA,
prison guards, civilian contractors, or anyone else;
* Pay reparations to current and former detainees and their families for violations of their human rights; and
* Shut down Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and all secret CIA detention facilities.
About Witness Against Torture
Today’s action was the latest by Witness Against Torture, which came
into being in December 2005 when a group of 24 friends walked to
Guantánamo to visit the prisoners – an action following the nonviolent
tradition of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. Upon returning to the
U.S., they continued the work with public education and community
outreach, networking and resource sharing, and acts of nonviolent civil
resistance to draw attention to the plight of prisoners in Guantánamo
and victims of the war on terrorism everywhere.
The International Day of Action launches a concerted campaign to Shut Down Guantánamo. For more information, please visit www.witnesstorture.org.