Amnesty plans protests for Guantanamo anniversary
LONDON (AFP) — Amnesty International will hold international protests Friday to press for the closure of the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, six years after the first detainees arrived, the group said.
In Washington, members of the organisation and other protesters will gather on the National Mall dressed in orange jumpsuits like those worn by Guantanamo detainees, the rights group said in a statement.
"Approximately 100,000 signatures from US citizens and a petition signed by over 1,100 parliamentarians from around the world will be handed in to the White House," it said.
Protesters will hold an all-night vigil in London beginning Thursday, followed by a protest on Friday in front of the US embassy.
The vigil will include "a replica Guantanamo cage, filled every hour with a new captive'," the group said.
Demonstraters will also hold rallies outside the US consulate in Edinburgh and in Belfast, it said.
Other protests were planned for Sweden, Ireland, Bahrain, Paraguay and the Philippines, Amnesty said.
Guantanamo is home to about 275 detainees seized in various countries during the US "war on terror" that was launched after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
The facility has drawn criticism from around the world for allegedly depriving inmates of their civil rights and subjecting them to harsh interrogation techniques.
Washington has repeatedly said it wants to close the facility.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said last month the government had run up against various legal issues in closing down the facility, as well as the question of what to do with the prisoners once freed.
