Protests greet Guantanamo anniversary [View All]

[Joanne98]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON — Rights groups Tuesday planned White House protests on the ninth anniversary of the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama vowed to shut down in one of the first acts of his presidency.

Protests organized by Amnesty International, Witness Against Torture, and other groups were also to include relatives of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The Guantanamo Bay prison opened at a US naval base on the Cuban mainland on January 11, 2002, to house "war on terror" prisoners captured as the United States ramped in military efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world in response to the US attacks and to combat global terrorism.

Scores of inmates held there have been cleared for release but continue to be held at the prison.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0_owT4l3gTwg_9EMmGnjHP20HpQ?docId=CNG.bed7c8b1102e48597605dfbce7307841.31