British activists protest, call for closure of Gitmo

[unhappycamper]

David Harrold, with the London Guantanamo Campaign, speaks to a small crowd that gathered outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday calling for the closure of the detention facility at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.


British activists protest, call for closure of Gitmo
By Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, January 13, 2009

LONDON — British activists rallied outside the U.S. Embassy on Sunday calling for the closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The late-afternoon demonstration — held on the seventh anniversary of the controversial site’s opening — drew several dozen activists, reporters and passers-by.

Some members of the London Guantanamo Campaign and the National Guantanamo Coalition donned orange jumpsuits and shackles and wore black bags over their heads to show the conditions under which detainees have reportedly been held. They contend that not only are some prisoners being held without charge in violation of the Geneva Conventions but many are also subjected to torture.

Speakers, including a member of parliament, focused mainly on the need to continue pressuring President-elect Barack Obama to keep his pledge to shut down the detention facility after he takes office next week.

"We look to (Obama) to honor his election promise," said MP Martin Linton, who spoke of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi man who is being held at Guantanamo and is the husband of a constituent in Battersea.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59965