Donning orange jumpsuits and black hoods, Occupy DC and Amnesty International protesters marched on the Supreme Court Wednesday and on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison called on federal authorities to shut the facility down. About 500 people participated in the march, which kicked off with a rally outside the White House and concluded at the Supreme Court with rows of jumpsuited protesters standing in line, heads bowed, evoking images of suspected terrorists detained at the U.S. base in Cuba.
Speakers called on President Obama to close Guantanamo, charge the terrorism suspects detained there and release those who have been cleared to return home to their native countries.
About 60 Occupy DC protesters participated in the event.
Traffic was briefly stopped by the march with cars honking as protesters walked slowly toward the Capitol. A spokesman for District police reported no arrests during the protest.
Retired Col. Morris Davis, the chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay from September 2005 to October 2007, was among those to address the rally. He denounced the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” — what critics called torture — at the camp and said he was disappointed that Obama hasn’t kept his campaign promise to shut down the prison entirely.
“I read his lips, and he promised he would close Guantanamo,” Morris said.
Protesters said the president’s recent signing of the Defense Authorization Act, which contains restrictions on moving detainees from the prison, makes it even less likely that Guantanamo will close soon.
Still, Amnesty International has been hosting protests on Guantanamo’s anniversary for years, and Wednesday’s protest was just one of several around the country. In the District, rallies also featured the mother of a Muslim first responder killed on Sept. 11, several attorneys for detainees and a former Guantanamo guard who has since become a conscientious objector.
“I’m always amazed at however many people show up,” said Geneve Mantri, Amnesty’s international government relations director for counterterrorism and human rights. “[In this protest], every single day is important.”
