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International Delegation To Visit Guantanamo, Cuba to Protest Infamous US Prison

Havana, January 4, 2007. 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 January 9 -13 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.

"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.

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. ( Cubaminrex- PL)

 

 

 

 

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