Banners Mark Six Years of Guantanamo Prison Camp

January 12, 2008--Three Fort Collins activists displayed two banners on an I-25 overpass today. The banners read “Shut Down Guantanamo” and “Stop Torture.” According to one activist, the banners were displayed in response to yesterday’s 6th anniversary of the first people taken as prisoners to the United States prison camp at Guantanamo. Detainees at Guantanamo are imprisoned indefinitely and without charges. Through the passage of the Military Commissions Act, people imprisoned at Guantanamo have been stripped of the right of habeas corpus. The U.S. has also refused to grant those imprisoned in the name of the “war on terror” the status of prisoners of war.

Since the U.S. began the “war on terror,” there have been numerous accounts of torture attributed to the U.S., including incidents at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and other facilities. As of early 2005, at least 112 people detained in the “war on terror” have died in U.S. custody, including at least 43 cases of homicide.

Several people who have been released and cleared of all allegations of terrorism have spoken and written about torture personally experienced or observed during their imprisonment by the U.S. The International Committee of the Red Cross, the FBI, and numerous human rights organizations have all released reports and statements documenting torture in U.S. detainment facilities.

The banners were displayed on both the north and south sides of the overpass and were observed by people traveling on the interstate. The activists met both anger and encouragement from those passing.

A Fort Collins police officer, followed quickly by backup, soon arrived and told the activists they could not display the banners from the overpass. The police took the activists’ names and birthdates and tried to ask questions concerning group affiliation and reasons for displaying the banners. The activists were told that if they returned they would be charged with an unspecified violation of the law.

After six years, the U.S. continues to operate the prison camp at Guantanamo, imprisoning people indefinitely without charges. The government continues to deny the use of torture, while documentation from wide-ranging sources, including government investigations, clearly illustrates the contrary.