1-13-14 Voices from around the world calling for Guantanamo to be closed

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1-13-14 Voices from around the world calling for Guantanamo to be closed

By Debra Sweet

There are two pertinent questions which demand answers if we are to force the U.S. to close the illegal torture camp at Guantánamo, and go on to end indefinite detention by the United States.

Why did the Bush regime open it in 2002 in a U.S. military base set in Guantánamo Bay on a colonized piece of Cuban land seized from Cuba at the culmination of its war of independence from Spain, known here as the Spanish-American War, in 1898?

And why are sections of the U.S. ruling class holding onto this prison so tightly, even expanding its infrastructure, that Obama's six year old promise to close it has become a cruel joke to most of the men who were there when he campaigned in 2008?

Watch Debra Sweet's speech from this past Thursday: Guantanamo MUST Be Closed Now!

Shaker Aamer: In Guantánamo, ‘national security’ rides roughshod over human rights

“The language that they use here at Guantánamo reflects how they treat us prisoners. Just the other day, they referred to me as a “package” when they moved me from my cell. This is nothing new. I have been a package for 12 years now. I am a package when en route to Camp Echo, the solitary confinement wing. I am a package en route to a legal call. ‘The package has been picked up … the package has been delivered.’”

Highlights from this week's protests against the 12th anniversary of Guantanamo

150 activists led by Witness Against Torture occupied the atrium of the Smithsonian museum in DC for more than two hours, speaking out against torture and calling for Guantanamo to close.

Hawai'i: On Saturday evening at 6pm, the 12th anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Prison, a dozen large photos of Guantanamo detainees lined Waikiki’s busiest street corner. Read more.

Protesters in Yemen called for the release of prisoners held indefinitely by the Obama administration, including some family members of prisoners. More photos including from DC and Miami protests at miamiherald.com.

Miami

Protesters at US Southern Command near Miami. More photos at miamiherald.com.

Protesters marched through a downpour in Washington DC to close Guantanamo. More photos at miamiherald.com.

More than 250 people from across England joined a demonstration on Saturday 11 January outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square to mark the twelfth anniversary of the opening of the extralegal prison camp at Guantánamo Bay and to call for its closure. Read more.

Chicago protesters braved frigid temperatures and pouring rain to gather and demand the closure of the illegitimate prison. Chicago World Can't Wait.

Dallas

Dallas protesters got creative and projected this message onto a building.

More news:
RT.com: ‘12 years too many’: US activists mark Gitmo anniversary by rallying for closure

Eurasia Review: Groups Protest 12th Anniversary Of Guantánamo
Center for Constitutional Rights: Groups Protest 12th Anniversary of Guantánamo

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