P.O. Box 81, Swarthmore, PA, 19081-- brandywine@juno.com (610) 544-1818

January 11 - Noon, as part of the WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE campaign to Shut Down Guantanamo Bay Prison,  Brandywine Peace Community and the ACLU held a vigil in Front of the Phila. Federal Courthouse, 601 Market St., to"break the chains" of Guantanamo that included a dramatic tableau and the reading of names of those imprisoned without trial at Guantanamo. (*On January 11th, 2002, the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo. January 11th, 2007, will mark five years of indefinite detention, without charges, without trial.   WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE, www.witnesstorture.org,  called for January 11th, 2007 to be an International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo and to either try in Federal Court the detainees or release them.) 

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VIGIL TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO PRISON, THURSDAY, NOON AT PHILA. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
ACTIVISTS TO MARK PRISON CAMPS 5TH ANNIVERSARY BY READING NAMES OF
GUANTANAMO PRISONERS WITH TABLEAU OF PEOPLE SHACKLED  TOGETHER IN ORANGE
JUMP SUITS AND BLACK HOODS

WHO: Brandywine Peace Community

WHAT: Vigil To Shut Down the Guantanamo Prison Camp, on the 5th Anniversary of Guantanamo receiving people for indefinite detention and as part of the Witness Against Torture  International Campaign and Day of Action to close Guantanamo and restore Constitutional Protections to Guantanamo and other prisoners of the war on terror by either trying the prisoners in Federal Court or releasing them.
The vigil  will include a dramatic tableau of people chained together in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, and a reading of
names of  those imprisoned without trial at Guantanamo. Following the vigil/tableau, the names of the Guantanamo
prisoners will be delivered to the Phila. office within the Federal Building of Senator Arlen Specter, ranking Republican
on the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling for the closing of Guantanamo and the repeal of the Military Commissions Act. 
For a full list of both National and International actions, visitwww.witnesstorture.org

WHEN: Thursday, January 11, Noon

WHERE: Philadelphia Federal Courthouse & Philadelphia office of Senator Arlen Specter, 601 Market Street,
Philadelphia, PA

WHY: To demand the Closing of the Guantanamo Prison Camp, and to call on the United States government to
enact a number of related measures, such as repealing the Military Commissions Act and restoring Habeas Corpus.

DETAILS: On January 11th, 2002, twenty hooded and shackled men shuffled off a plane from Afghanistan, arriving at the U.S.
prison at Guantnamo. In an attempt to sidestep the Geneva Convention protections for prisoners of war, the Bush
administration created a new category of enemy combatant for these men captured in the war on terror. Since that time, more
than one thousand men and boys have been imprisoned at Guantnamo. Accounts of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment
have been  condemned by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other reputable bodies. The prisoners have resorted to
hunger strikes as a way of protesting their treatment. Many have attempted suicide; three men killed themselves on June 10th 2006.
Desperation, fear and frustration mark their confinement.

Five years later, not a single prisoner has been charged, tried or convicted of any crime. Many have been released because no
evidence has been  found against them, but more than 430 men remain in indefinite detention without hope of release.

A Coalition of Groups have declared January 11, 2007 an International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantnamo. In
Washington, DC and around the country, groups are planning vigils and actions at courthouses, federal buildings, and public squares. In
other countries, the focus will be on U.S. Embassies and military facilities. 

The groups are calling on the U.S. government to: - Repeal the Military Commissions Act and restore Habeas Corpus;
- Charge and try in Federal Court or release all detainees; - Withhold funds for the proposed $125 million construction of new
military courts at Guantnamo; - 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; - Shut down Guantnamo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram and all other U.S.
prisons overseas, including secret CIA detention facilities.

VIEW PHOTOS AThttp://new.photos.yahoo.com/contirichanth/album/576460762385308706