From our friends at BARCAT (Bay Area Religious Campaign Against Torture) and Code Pink:
On Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at noon, the Bay Area Religious Campaign Against Torture is partnering with several other Bay Area groups for an event to mark the tenth anniversary of the first prisoners arriving at Guantanamo Prison.
When: January 11, 2012 at Noon
Where: Meet at the Federal Building, on 7th Street, by 12 Noon
Why: To mark the 10th anniversary of unlawful counterterrorism detentions at Guantanamo and call for an end to indefinite detention and unfair trials
Transportation: Closest BART/Muni station is Civic Center
We and the other groups want to gather 171 people--representing the number of detainees still remaining at Guantanamo--to form a "human chain" linking the Federal Building and the Ninth Circuit Court, which are across the street from each other at Seventh and Mission streets in San Francisco. This event coincides with an action on the same day in Washington, D.C., when the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, along with a number of other partnering organizations, will attempt a 2,000-person human chain stretching from the White House to the Capitol!
The San Francisco event will include a rally with speakers calling attention to the continuing detention and abuse occurring at Guantanamo. Many participants in the chain will wear orange jumpsuits, others will dress in orange or black. This part of the event will be a "witness;" solemn and silent.
President Obama is likely to sign the National Defense Authorization bill which contains provisions to make it unlikely that the 171 people currently in Guantanamo will ever be released, regardless of their guilt or innocence This is unconstitutional and unAmerican.
The groups sponsoring the Bay Area Guantanamo action include:
- Witness Against Torture
- Berkeley No More Guantanamos
- National Accountability Action Network,
- Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
- War Resisters League - West
- Codepink Women for Peace