Follow up to January 11th actions

In North Carolina, over 25 protesters lined a street in downtown Raleigh, and got Mayor Meeker (of Raleigh) to sign their petition to close down Guantanamo. They gave out ribbons, handed out information, and had people sign a petition. There is more information on the NC Stop Torture Now website.

In DC, it was reported that 80 people were arrested. This is a report by a NC person named Joan, that I received by email from Vets for Peace, Chapter 99:

> Hi, folks. Three of us from NC got back from the DC action around 9:30
> - 10:00 pm last night. There were quite a few people from NC there,
> not all of whom have been involved with NC STN. It was a very intense
> and well-planned action. It was small, in the hundreds rather than
> tens of thousands, but the "prisoner" procession from the mall to the
> Supreme Court and the action at the Court were very moving and
> well-orchestrated. The pre-procession rally and some of the procession
> took place in the rain, which added both to solemnity and to
> discomfort. Wearing hoods, we couldn't see how many of us marched as
> prisoners, but we heard that the double line stretched for blocks.
> Some protestors wore fatigues and played the role of our guards, and
> did a fine job both of appearing gruff and military-like and of warning
> us of curbs and other changes in terrain. Some of us hadn't known
> about the action inside the Supreme Court earlier, where the majority
> of folks were arrested, but 23 of the "prisoners" from our procession
> became actual prisoners at its end. The last we heard, via a 9:00 pm
> call to Beth Brockman who is doing arrestee support, was that over 80
> people were sent to central cell-block, which is reputed to be a nasty
> place. She didn't know how soon they would be released.
> Joan

Inside the US Supreme Court, these actions were taking place:

Inside, a member of Witness Against Torture delivered a letter to the nine Supreme Court justices regarding Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush, the two cases brought by Guantánamo detainees that they are now considering, along with a writ of habeas corpus for each of the 275 current detainees. Other activists attempted to unfurl a banner inside the Court building but were prevented from doing so by police, who began arresting them and shut the front doors to the building. Another group then started reading the names of the Guantánamo prisoners, but were prevented, whereupon they sat down and started chanting, “Shut It Down!” prior to being arrested.

And, further on in the article, it says that all persons arrested had surrendered their identification, and they were taken into custody under the name of a one of the Guantanamo prisoners. There was a simulation of water-boarding, which has been done in Asheville also at protests.

Here is what the Witness Against Torture is calling on the US Government to do:

* Repeal the Military Commissions Act and restore Habeas Corpus;
* Charge and try or release all detainees;
* Clearly and unequivocally forbid torture and all other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, by the military, the CIA, prison guards, civilian contractors, or anyone else;
* Pay reparations to current and former detainees and their families for violations of their human rights; and
* Shut down Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and all secret CIA detention facilities.

And, the picture above is from the DC action, sent out by Rae of Code Pink. She is the one who took the photo. There are more pictures available from Code Pink here.

Rae had this to say in her email:

Few dozen arrested on steps of Supreme Court, very picturesque arrest, slow, hauntingly visual. Misty drizzle, somber energy, well coordinated, hundreds marched single file from the Mall to the Supreme Court, estimated 500+. Gael and I interviewed by cnn.

I regret that I was not involved in the actions on January 11^th. It certainly is a shame on our national identity to have such things as torture and kidnapping and illegal detentions going on, and so few people protesting them. But, at least I blogged about it. I am very proud of the Americans who stood up against this, especially those who were arrested.