What do you do if you are a free person living under a regime that jails people charged with no crime, denies them contact with lawyers or anyone in the outside world, denies them trial, and subjects them to torture?
You say something about it. That's what a group of Ithacans, and thousands of people around the world, are doing now, to protest the fifth anniversary of Guantanamo Prison. The Bush administration operates the prison in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba, away from the United States and its laws.
January 11 has been designated an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantanamo.
Forty cities around the world will stage protests. A group of Ithacans has gone to Washington to participate in non-violent actions.
This morning, about 100 people were arrested at a peaceful demonstration in the U.S. Federal Court after a march of hundreds more from the Supreme Court. It was the first time political arrests were made at the Federal Court.
Locally, Ithacans will gather at the west end of the Commons at 4 p.m. today for a silent vigil.
The aim of the movement is to enforce American principles of human rights, particularly the rights to humane treatment, and a fair and speedy trial.
For more information, visit www.witnesstorture.org.
Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog
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