WNPJ Member among 70 arrested at Supreme Court in International Day of Action to shut down Guantanmo

PRESS RELEASE

FOR RELEASE: January 11, 2008                    CONTACT: Jennifer First 608-469-5687

MONONA WOMAN WAS ARRESTED WITH 70 ACTIVISTS AT THE US SUPREME COURT

JANUARY 11 IN INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

TO SHUT DOWN GUANTANAMO

Joy First, Monona, was arrested at 2 pm yesterday joining activists calling on the US government to shut down Guantánamo and release the men who have been illegally detained and tortured for six years.  The activists, many in orange jumpsuits, processed from the National Mall to the steps of the Supreme Court, attempting to ascend the steps bringing the names and stories of those imprisoned at Guantánamo to the court, and dramatically petitioning the court to be responsible for these men.

Part of the group was arrested in front of the Supreme Court and the other part was arrested (including Joy First) inside the Supreme Court Building.  They are being detained until at least later today.  They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those arrested inside the building also were charged under a provision that makes it a crime to give "a harangue or oration" in the Supreme Court building.

The maximum penalty is 60 days in jail, a fine or both.

Six years after the first hooded, shackled men were brought to the U.S. prison at Guantánamo, not a single prisoner has been convicted of a charge of terrorism. Many have been released because no evidence was found against them. Yet nearly 300 men remain in indefinite detention without hope of release. January 11, thousands of people around the world stood up on behalf of the victims of the war on terrorism and for law and justice.

In Washington, DC, Witness Against Torture joined Amnesty USA, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and other advocates for a rally on The National Mall. They will then march to the Supreme Court wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods, symbolically bringing Guantanamo's detainees to the high court.

At the Supreme Court, advocates will formally appeal to the nine Justices  to affirm in Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush what all the rest of the world knows: that torture and the suspension of Habeas Corpus are not only immoral and unconstitutional, but are war crimes for which U.S. officials must be held accountable. Creatively, we will also make the torture and immorality of Guantánamo visible while asserting the humanity of the men imprisoned there. Outside the Court, human rights advocates will read testimonies and names of prisoners, perform street theater, and hand out information.

With these actions throughout the world, people of conscience and justice call on the U.S. government to:

·          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 other U.S. prisons overseas, including secret CIA detention facilities.

The International Day of Action launches a concerted campaign to Shut Down Guantánamo. For more information on the International Day of Action, please visit www.witnesstorture.org.