By Carrie Porter, Rocky Mountain News
A man recovers from a simulated water boarding protest.
Protesters staged a dramatic protest of waterboarding.
FEDERAL COURTHOUSE – Amid pleas for mercy, three men dressed in army
fatigues shoved a protester onto a wooden plank, stuffed a towel over
his face and poured gallons of water on the man.
The simulated water-boarding torture marked a climax of theatrics for
the protest march that began at the Civic Center and finished at the
Federal Courthouse in downtown Denver.
The protesters from The World Can’t Wait who participated in the mock torture were clear about their message: water-boarding is torture and needs to end, they said.
“This is unbearable physical torture. It is purposeful, controlled drowning,” said one of the three alleged torturers in the simulation. “It is illegal and the people who work inside the Federal Courthouse are charged with the responsibility of enforcing these laws.”
A stick of wood danged from his mouth as the mock-soldier yelled, as if feeding a cigarette habit.
The prisoner-actor dressed in orange coveralls had rings of curly black hair and boyish features. He was protected by a plastic mask underneath the towel that covered his face. The three older men who acted as the soldiers at Guantanamo Bay stood with their arms crossed behind their back as the man coughed up water onto the sidewalk, and the scene ended.
A band of about 20 police officers could be seen on the side, their jaws moving up and down as they chewed their gum slowly and watched, expressionless.