NY protesters seek Guantanamo base shutdown (Clergy and Laity)

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060501/us_nm/rights_guantanamo_dc_1

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Protesters seeking a shutdown of the Guantanamo Bay U.S. prison camp marched to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations on Monday and held an interfaith service in its entryway after building owners asked New York police not to arrest them.

Nearly half the 135 demonstrators, many of them members of the clergy, had hoped to be arrested as an act of civil disobedience to protest what they say is torture at the U.S. camp.

When police announced they would not be jailed, protest leaders boasted of a symbolic victory, saying the police told them that U.S. diplomats had heard their message.

"Perhaps their hearts were turned in a way," said the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, national coordinator of the group Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq.

Several of the protesters dressed in orange jumpsuits and wore black hoods over their heads as they knelt in front of the privately owned building in prayer after their march from U.N. headquarters a half-mile away.



Under the watchful eye of police, protesters from the organization 'Clergy and Laity Concerned About Iraq,' march and protest, demanding the shutdown of the US operated prison at Guantanamo, Cuba, near the US Mission to the United Nations, in New York, May 1, 2006. (Chip East/Reuters)

[leftchick]

1. another pic....

Protesters from the organization 'Clergy & Laity Concerned About Iraq,' take part in a protest demanding the shutdown of the U.S. operated prison at Guantanamo, Cuba, in front of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, in New York, May 1, 2006. Members of the group hoped to get arrested during their sit-in, but were told by police they would be allowed to stay without the threat of arrest. REUTERS/Chip East

[Vidar]

2. Good to see a few real Christians in action for a change.

[Rose Siding]

3. I hope someone was listening. Yesterday's WP

had an very informative piece written by a woman who spent time there with defendants and their lawyers. Her impressions are sobering-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=207294&mesg_id=207294

[leftchick]

5. rummy, condi, gonzo, cheney and bush will rot in HELL for this!

I have no doubt the majority of these people are INNOCENT!! :argh:


<snip>

Mousovi is a physician from the Afghan city of Gardez, where he was arrested by U.S. troops 2 1/2 years ago. He tells us that he had returned to Afghanistan in August 2003, after 12 years of exile in Iran, to help rebuild his wathan , his homeland. He believes that someone turned him in to U.S. forces just to collect up to $25,000 being offered to anyone who gave up a Talib or al-Qaeda member.

As I translate from Pashto, Mousovi hesitantly describes life since his arrest. Transported to Bagram air base near Kabul in eastern Afghanistan, he was thrown -- blindfolded, hooded and gagged -- into a 3 1/2 -by-7-foot shed. He says he was beaten regularly by Americans in civilian clothing, deprived of sleep by tape-recordings of sirens that blared day and night. He describes being dragged around by a rope, subjected to extremes of heat and cold. He says he barely slept for an entire month.

He doesn't know why he was brought to Guantanamo Bay. He had hoped he would be freed at his military hearing in December 2004. Instead, he was accused of associating with the Taliban and of funneling money to anti-coalition insurgents. When he asked for evidence, he was told it was classified. And so he sits in prison, far from his wife and three children. More than anyone, he misses his 11-year-old daughter, Hajar. When he talks about her, his eyes fill with tears and his head droops.

I don't know exactly what I had expected coming to Guantanamo Bay, but it wasn't this weary, sorrowful man. The government says he is a terrorist and a monster, but when I look at him, I see simply what he says he is -- a physician who wanted to build a clinic in his native land.

[Rose Siding]

6. I'm so glad you read it too.

I haven't seen such a human, inside look before.

We don't know if any one of those prisoners had blood in their eye when they were sent to Gitmo, and so far all we have is Don Rumsfeld's word that they are trained liars -and what's HIS word worth these days?

We locked these people up like animals, stole years from them and even the DoD KNOWS they aren't terrorists. -They let hundreds go, just like that.

[leftchick]

7. There was an excellent C-Span segment on

several weeks ago. It was a defense attorney for several of the detainees. His report brought me to tears and convinced me that the vast majority held are completely innocent. The USA has become what we call other countries, a Terror state! :cry:

[gratuitous]

4. Excellent!

Raising public consciousness about what the Bush administration is doing with our tax dollars and in our name is always a good day's work!