The BBC reports that twelve antiwar activists are demonstrating in Cuba against the indefinite detention of terrorists at Gitmo.
Anti-war activists are demonstrating near to the US prison in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to demand its closure.
The 12 activists include an ex-detainee and relatives of another prisoner. The protest marks the fifth anniversary of the first “war on terror” detentions.
The facility was set up at a US base in Cuba after the invasion of Afghanistan, to interrogate “enemy combatants”.
The treatment of the 400 prisoners and the legal uncertainty about their fate have drawn international condemnation.
The protesters have reached the end of the Cuban military zone which borders the US naval base. It is as far as the Cuban authorities will let them go.
However, they say they are pleased to have got this close to the site of what they view as an international disgrace.
Elsewhere on the BBC website you can read this story about the death of Cuban dissident Miguel Valdes Tamayo, aged 50. Tamayo “was among a group of 75 activists jailed in 2003 for opposing President Fidel Castro, but was released on health grounds a year later.” Still, the Cuban government would not allow him to leave Cuba for treatment–fellow dissident Maria Beatriz Roque described his confinement as “a cruel action by the Cuban government.” It’s nice that antiwar activists can protest in Cuba. It’s a shame no one else can–not that our antiwar activists would bother protesting that injustice.
