ckaihatsu
13th January 2014, 18:05
South Florida rally demands: Close Guantanamo now!
By Fernando Figueroa
Doral, FL - Over 100 protesters rallied near U.S. Southern Command here, Jan. 11, to demand an end to the torture and abuse being carried out in Guantanamo Bay. Many of the protesters came from nearby cities like Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and some came from as far away as California and Michigan to demand that President Obama close down Guantanamo Bay for good.
The rally was organized by South Florida-based POWIR Peoples Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism. The anti-war group formed a coalition with several groups to lead the protest, including Code Pink, Students for a Democratic Society and Veterans for Peace. The protest marked 12 years of the U.S. sending prisoners to Guantanamo Bay, a trend which started shortly after the war on terror began.
Protesters began by assembling near a busy intersection approximately one mile from U.S. Southern Command. As people gathered, they brought signs that read 12 years too many and Stop the torture now! Close Guantanamo! Protest organizers led militant chants such as, Obama we dont want your shame, no more torture in our name! and I dont know what Ive been told, well keep marching till its closed! We are marching here to say: Obama close Guantanamo Bay! The chants won a lot of support and honks from nearby cars. From there, protest organizers began the march to SouthCom by leading the people into the streets, even though the police denied that their permit protected the rights of the protesters to march in the streets. But the organizers were experienced and knew that the cops werent worth being worried about and marched into the streets anyways.
The march took up a full lane of traffic on the way to SouthCom. The lead banner read Close Guantanamo now! and listed the demands of the protesters. Once the march reached SouthCom, protesters dressed in the signature orange jumpsuits that prisoners at Guantanamo are forced to wear knelt down, blocking the entrance to SouthCom. The rest of the activists gathered behind the orange jumpsuits and also blocked the entrance. Speakers from Code Pink, Students for a Democratic Society, Progressive Democrats of America, Students for Justice in Palestine, POWIR, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression condemned the U.S. for keeping Guantanamo open and demanded it be closed and the prisoners released.
POWIR founder and protest organizer Cassia Laham told the crowd, For half of my life, 12 years, Guantanamo has been allowed to exist - all as part of some warped strategy to win some ill-defined U.S.-fabricated war on terror. A war that knows no boundaries, no rules and no end. But who knows better than the U.S. what terror really means? Terror is the nearly 100,000 Iraqis who have been slaughtered by American bombs, terror is the thousands of Afghan children who have been murdered and raped and tortured We stand here to today to say no to war, no to political repression, no to indefinite detention, no to torture and no to Guantanamo!
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
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Fight Back! News P.O. Box 582564 Minneapolis, MN 55440 USA
By Fernando Figueroa
Doral, FL - Over 100 protesters rallied near U.S. Southern Command here, Jan. 11, to demand an end to the torture and abuse being carried out in Guantanamo Bay. Many of the protesters came from nearby cities like Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and some came from as far away as California and Michigan to demand that President Obama close down Guantanamo Bay for good.
The rally was organized by South Florida-based POWIR Peoples Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism. The anti-war group formed a coalition with several groups to lead the protest, including Code Pink, Students for a Democratic Society and Veterans for Peace. The protest marked 12 years of the U.S. sending prisoners to Guantanamo Bay, a trend which started shortly after the war on terror began.
Protesters began by assembling near a busy intersection approximately one mile from U.S. Southern Command. As people gathered, they brought signs that read 12 years too many and Stop the torture now! Close Guantanamo! Protest organizers led militant chants such as, Obama we dont want your shame, no more torture in our name! and I dont know what Ive been told, well keep marching till its closed! We are marching here to say: Obama close Guantanamo Bay! The chants won a lot of support and honks from nearby cars. From there, protest organizers began the march to SouthCom by leading the people into the streets, even though the police denied that their permit protected the rights of the protesters to march in the streets. But the organizers were experienced and knew that the cops werent worth being worried about and marched into the streets anyways.
The march took up a full lane of traffic on the way to SouthCom. The lead banner read Close Guantanamo now! and listed the demands of the protesters. Once the march reached SouthCom, protesters dressed in the signature orange jumpsuits that prisoners at Guantanamo are forced to wear knelt down, blocking the entrance to SouthCom. The rest of the activists gathered behind the orange jumpsuits and also blocked the entrance. Speakers from Code Pink, Students for a Democratic Society, Progressive Democrats of America, Students for Justice in Palestine, POWIR, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression condemned the U.S. for keeping Guantanamo open and demanded it be closed and the prisoners released.
POWIR founder and protest organizer Cassia Laham told the crowd, For half of my life, 12 years, Guantanamo has been allowed to exist - all as part of some warped strategy to win some ill-defined U.S.-fabricated war on terror. A war that knows no boundaries, no rules and no end. But who knows better than the U.S. what terror really means? Terror is the nearly 100,000 Iraqis who have been slaughtered by American bombs, terror is the thousands of Afghan children who have been murdered and raped and tortured We stand here to today to say no to war, no to political repression, no to indefinite detention, no to torture and no to Guantanamo!
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
This email was sent to [email protected]
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
Fight Back! News P.O. Box 582564 Minneapolis, MN 55440 USA