Delegates include mother of current prisoner, former Guantanamo
detainee, and high-level US peace activists
On January 9-13, a first-ever international delegation of former
prisoners, families of current prisoners, US lawyers and human rights
activists will travel to Guantanamo, Cuba to hold a conference on
prison abuses and march to the Cuban-side security gate of the US Naval
Base to call for the closure of the illegal prison. The protest in Cuba
is part of the January 11 International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo,
the day that marks the 5-year anniversary of the first prisoners being
sent to Guantanamo.
"I am traveling all the way from Dubai because by heart is overflowing
with grief over the abuse and ongoing detention of my son," says Zohra
Zewawi, who claims her son has been tortured and blinded in one eye
during his detention, and has never been charged or tried. Her son was
imprisoned in September 2002 and is still a prisoner in Guantanamo.
Asif Iqbal, a former detainee who was freed on no charges after years
of abuse, is coming to show his support for the basic rights of
detainees.
"All prisoners deserve humane treatment and fair trials, which is not
happening in Guatanamo," says retired US Army Colonel and delegate Ann
Wright. "US federal courts, not military commissions, should hear the
cases against those charged with terrorist acts and the infamous prison
in Guantanamo should be immediately shut down."
The group, organizing by US groups CODEPINK: Women for Peace and Global
Exchange, will hold a press conference in Havana on January 9, a
conference in Guantanamo on January 10 on prison conditions and
international law, and then on January 11 will march from the center of
Guantanamo to the security gate of the US Naval Base where the prison
is located to hold an interfaith service and call for the closing of
the prison. The group will then travel to Havana to debrief the press
on January 13. A smaller group will then travel to the US to lobby
Congress to shut the prison, restore Habeas Corpus, repeal the Military
Commissions Act, and give all detainees fair trials or release them.
In both Guantanamo and Havana, the award-winning film Road to
Guantanamo will be screened, with a post-showing dialogue with e film
co-producer Mat Whitecross and former prisoner Asif Iqbal, whose
horrific story of detention is portrayed in the docu-drama.
The 12-person delegation also includes renowned US "peace mom" Cindy
Sheehan whose son was killed in the war in Iraq; Adele Welty whose
firefighter son was killed on 9/11; US human rights/peace leader Medea
Benjamin of Global Exchange and CODEPINK; retired US Colonel and
diplomat Ann Wright who resigned over the invasion of Iraq; and legal
director of the US Center for Constitutional Rights Bill Goodman who
has taken the cases of Guantanamo detainees to the US Supreme Court.
On January 11, the International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, protests
will be held all over the world, including England, Australia and
Holland. In the US major protests will take place in Washington DC and
New York City, plus dozens of cities throughout the country, including
outside the US Southern Command in Miami.
For interviews with delegates traveling to Cuba, contact Medea Benjamin
by phone or
medea@globalexchange.org. For information about US and
other international protests on January 11, see
www.witnesstorture.org
or contact Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424.
See also
www.cubainsideout.org for more Cuba-specific information
