January 2009There’s been a surprising amount of news about the Uighur detainees at Guantanamo this week, including a documentary on PBS and a lengthy story today on Democracy Now!
And wouldn’t you know it, today’s White House vigil was briefly on Politico 44. (And the main site.)
Like last week, we spent this Friday fasting. The vigil was made up of prayers and readings by and about the men who’ve been at Guantanamo.
释放维吾尔人
This week we’re focusing on the release of the Uighur detainees at Guantanamo. This sub-campaign has some interesting challenges, like answering everyone’s initial question: “Free who?”
Nice weather and good crowds for today’s vigil. The web angle is going slower than I’d like. Still connecting with other groups who are either working on this issue or might want to be in the loop.
Emi MacLean, staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, talks about the current situation at the Guantanamo detention facility, having just returned from the prison. Recorded at the Peace Mural, Washington, DC. Presented by the 100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo and End Torture, January 26, 2009.
Download the mp3 or see other formats.
Drew Wilson, Worcesterite and friend of this blog, was arrested September 1, 2008 in St. Paul in connection with the Republican National Convention. Yesterday, he and 6 others were the first RNC arrestees to get to the trial phase. The charges against him sounded pretty bogus, and sure enough they were dropped:
. . . Judge Michael Fetsch decided that no reasonable jury could find the defendants guilty even if all the testimony from police was accepted as true. The defendants did not have to present any defense and charges can not be re-filed in the future.
Let’s celebrate by listening to Drew’s account of the arrest, from 508 #57: click here to download the mp3.
(Also: Very short Star-Tribune article.)
Barack Obama will have spent his first several days in office issuing a series of executive orders which, some quibbling and important caveats and reservations aside, meet or actually exceed even the most optimistic expectations of civil libertarians for what he could or would do quickly . . . .
His Guantanamo order exceeded the expectations of most of us here. Alcohol is prohibited at the temple except for “special celebrations”–and this was deemed a fit occasion.
Even with beer, it was hard to get in the mood. The (beginning of the) end of a terrible situation isn’t normally joyous, but rather a time for sober reflection, and so today’s White House vigil was a prayerful memorial, spent remembering what’s happened at Guantanamo, and what is happening at this minute. People dressed as detainees broke character, took off their hoods, and read passages by or about the detainees. We began and finished with prayers.
Matt Vogel was working the crowd, and thought many of them “got it”:
Bud Courtney reads:
Many have talked about prosecution of US war crimes as being part of a “truth and reconciliation” process. With this memorial, I think we are exploring what non-judicial means we can employ to heal the scars. A good start.
I haven’t seen anything better on the dawning of the “Obama era” than this typically great clip from Jay Smooth:
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