ICN Special Reports

by Elizabeth Field

Last Thursday, January 11, seventeen Ithacans traveled to Washington DC as part of an International Day of Action to shut down the US Military Prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Clare Grady, Danny Burns, Peter DeMott and Chris Tate, from Ithaca, were among those who participated in a low-level action inside the Federal District Courthouse that led to the arrests of 89 people. Hundreds more gathered outside the courthouse, including Gita Gutierrez, a human rights lawyer from Ithaca, to educate people and speak out against illegal imprisonment and torture.

In October, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which suspends Habeas Corpus for a new, specially created type of criminal in the war on terror, a new kind of "enemy combatant." It's President Bush's way of working around the Geneva Conventions and International Law.

Gita Gutierrez, who has traveled to Guantánamo many times, spoke at the rally and also on Democracy Now. In her interview with Amy Goodman, she refutes Donald Rumsfeld's claim that those imprisoned in Guantánamo are the "worst of the worst."

"That is a lie," Gutierrez tells Goodman. "According to the government’s own documents, 92% of the men at Guantánamo are not al-Qaeda fighters." 

The Action Inside

Dressed in orange t-shirts with slogans like "Shut Down Guantánamo" and "Stop Torture," the 89 protestors entered the Federal District Courthouse just after noon and filed Habeas Corpus petitions on behalf of illegally detained prisoners, then unfurled banners around an atrium inside the courthouse.

The Habeas Corpus petitions, written by law professor Bill Quigley, state in part, "This prisoner has never been brought to trial. This prisoner has never had the chance to see the evidence that is supposed to be the reason he is in prison. This prisoner has never had the chance to confront and ask questions of those who accuse him of crime…" It goes on to elaborate on the importance of Habeas Corpus, which allows prisoners to challenge the legality of their detention.

Clare Grady says she went to DC because she's held the prisoners in her heart ever since they were first brought to Guantánamo five years ago.

"Having been a prisoner myself [twice for anti-war actions] it hits me in my gut so much to see them held in that way—in cages, in the hot sun, with black hoods, and shackled to the ground," Clare explains, continuing, "They've been held for years, with no charges against them, and no visits from family, so I eagerly joined the efforts to remember the fifth anniversary by going to our nation's capitol where we addressed the Supreme Court and Federal District Court."

Clare filed the Habeas Corpus petition on behalf of a man named Muhamed Hussein Abdallah. They simply brought the petitions to the court and handed them to a receptionist, who stamped them and put them in a pile.

"It's more symbolic," explains Danny Burns. "But it doesn't mean it's not significant."

"Going to DC is part of the process," Clare explains, "to put our bodies on the line, nonviolently, to call for redress of these crimes against humanity."

Clare and Danny also traveled to the gates of Guantánamo in December, 2005, along with Teresa Grady and Grace Ritter from Ithaca, and several others in a weeklong walk across Cuba to end US sanctioned torture.

After turning in the petitions, some of the protesters unfurled banners around an atrium inside the federal courthouse. Clare says many people who work there came out to watch the rally. With the banners hanging, and the orange shirts on, they read the names of every prisoner currently being held in Guantánamo in a liturgical sort of way, and sang songs.

A federal court Marshall told them they had to put the banners away and take off their t-shirts, which they refused. According to Burns, they called in two court Marshall's for every protestor, who swooped in all at once to arrest the protestors for disorderly conduct.

"My experience with Marshall's is that they'd just as soon drag you off to the death chamber as they would take you downstairs for processing," says Burns. "We were all calm and nonviolent but you never know what's going to happen. These days there is a general sense that you pay a higher price for dissent."

Most of those arrested tried to give the names of a Guantánamo prisoner, and refused to give their own names. Ultimately, they were issued tickets written out to Jane Doe or John Doe. They expect the charges to be dropped.

The Action Outside the Courthouse

ICN spoke with Teresa Grady, Jessica Stewart and Grace Ritter, who attended the day's events outside the Federal District Court. They participated in a march that started at the US Supreme Court and ended up at the Federal District Courthouse. Teresa Grady joined the 200 hundred or so protestors who wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods.

Grace says she went because "There are so few things we can do about Guantánamo, so anything we can do I want to do. It was a really wonderful attempt at solidarity with others in the world who were also protesting that day." Other actions around the globe took place in the Middle East and Europe.

Grace also says she saw a demonstration of water boarding that was "very shocking to see." Water boarding, an interrogation technique that has been approved by the Bush administration, involves handcuffing a prisoner, strapping him to a board, placing cellophane over his face, and pouring water on his face to simulate drowning. It can also mean dunking the person in water until just before they drown.

Vice President Dick Cheney has praised this technique as invaluable for saving American lives, while refuting that it is a form of torture.

Jessica Stewart, while contemplating different forms of torture, wondered what could be next if we accept this type of treatment as necessary or even as okay treatment of prisoners. "We need more than just new leadership," she muses. "We also need something like a spiritual transformation among ourselves, enabling us to envision a better life for ourselves."

More info:

Witness Against Torture:
http://witnesstorture.org/

Gita Gutierrez on Democracy Now January 11:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536256