Seventy-one dressed in orange jumpsuits and hoods traveled through Minneapolis skyways and buildings downtown yesterday to remind people of the national disgrace and urge for its closure.
Torture, death, unlawful detainment, child prisoners, kidnapping or "extraordinary rendition," bounties that delivered prisoners detained for years without evidence or charges. For people around the world Guantanamo Bay isn't just a U.S. disgrace, it's a blot on humanity and must be eliminated.
Opponents of the ongoing human rights abuses at Guantanamo chose Thursday, January 11, the fifth anniversary of the day the United States brought the first detainees to the US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as the day to say no more excuses, stop the abuses.
The United States has brought more than 700 prisoners from 40 countries to Guantanamo since 2002. More than half are still held there. Of the 435 detainees currently being held at Guantanamo, only 10 have been charged with terrorism-related offenses. Of the 245 that have been released to their home countries, 205 were freed without being charged or were cleared of charges related to their detention.
After all the squawking, half-lies, and hand-wringing about torture and the death of human rights, nothing has changed for the prisoners at Guantanamo.
New UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, like his predecessor, called for the closure of Guantanamo yesterday. Five years is long enough. Americans and humanitarians around the world must demand that the U.S. government shut it down.
Timeline at Guantanamo: November 13, 2001 – Bush issues Presidential Military Order giving himself the power to detain non-citizens suspected of connection to terrorism as an enemy combatant. Under the order, a person could be held indefinitely, without charges being filed against him or her, without a court hearing, and without entitlement to a legal consultant.
January 11, 2002 -- U.S. brings first detainees to Guantanamo. The plane that arrives from Afghanistan is carrying 20 men.
February 27, 2002 – Two-thirds of detainees go on a hunger strike
March 11, 2003 – Federal Appeals Court rules that detainees have no legal rights in the United States.
July 30, 2004 -- Pentagon creates Combatant Status Review Tribunals to review detainee's "enemy combatant" status on a case-by-case basis. Lawyers are banned.
August 26-28, 2004: 23 prisoners attempt suicide
January 25, 2005 – U.S. announces plan to investigate allegations of abuse
Kathlyn Stone is a Minnesota-based writer covering science and medicine, health care and related policies. She publishes www.fleshandstone.net, a health and science news site.
