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Shut Guantanamo Now!
International Day of Protest (Saturday 15 July 2006)
The National Guantanamo Campaign held its first national action on 15 July 2006 when it took part in the “Shut Guantanamo Now!” International Day of Protest by organising a demonstration and rally in central London. This demonstration was called for and organised urgently in response to the news on 9 June of the deaths of two young Saudi men and a Yemeni imprisoned without trial or charge at Guantanamo Bay. The National Guantanamo Campaign strongly rejects the official American line that these men “committed suicide” as an “act of asymmetrical warfare” and calls for an independent inquiry into this incident. The National Guantanamo Coalition also urges the American government and other governments to act immediately to release the remaining 430 or so prisoners known to be held there before there are any more fatalities.
On a sweltering Saturday in central London, approximately 300 people from the capital and various parts of the UK and further afield gathered at midday at Marble Arch in London. Shortly after midday the demonstrators, joined by the mother and sister of Omar Deghayes, a Brighton resident, and the wife and children of Jamil El-Banna, a London resident, took a short walk down to the American Embassy in nearby Grosvenor Square. After a short introduction by Asim Qureishi from Cageprisoners, drawing an analogy between the storming of the Bastille (as Bastille Day was the day before) in 1789 and the struggle against oppressive regimes and arbitrary and unjust detention in our times, a series of speakers spoke about various aspects of this continuing injustice and the struggle to have the prisoners released. Victoria Brittain, co-author of Enemy Combattant with Moazzam Begg, spoke first and then read out a statement by Sabah El-Banna, the wife of Jamil El-Banna. She was followed by Taji Mustafa from Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Dr. Azzam Tamimi, Ghada Razuki from the Stop The War Coalition, Yvonne Ridley, a presenter on the Islam Channel, Hannah Caller from Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, George Galloway MP and Hugo Charlton from CAMPACC. Zohra Deghayes and Amani Deghayes, relatives of Omar Deghayes, a Libyan national, and Anas and Mohammed El-Banna, sons of Jamil El-Banna, a Jordanian national, were the family members of the British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay who addressed the crowd of demonstrators. Chris Chang from FulleBlunt, the hip hop band with a message, also performed the human rights rap version of Guantanamera. The speeches outside the Embassy lasted over an hour, during which Jackie Chase, from the Save Omar Campaign (Brighton), and Amani Deghayes handed a petition in to the American Embassy calling for an independent inquiry into the deaths at Guantanamo, access to medical care, lawyers and families for current prisoners and their immediate return to countries where they will not face further torture or abuse.
The demonstrators then marched back to Marble Arch led by the family members and a chain gang in orange boiler suits whose heads were covered in black sacks. After a short pause there, the demonstrators soldiered on to the Home Office in Victoria where Zohra and Amani Deghayes and Sabah El-Banna handed in another petition addressed to the UK government, concerning the British residents.
The demonstration ended at around 4pm and was a peaceful and enjoyable event. The Metropolitan Police also showed their concern about the deteriorating situation in Guantanamo Bay with a strong presence during both the march and rally.
Thank you to all the individuals and organisations who attended.
More information and pictures of the demonstration in London can be found at:
Demonstrations were also held in:
Sana’a, Yemen: approximately 1000 demonstrators, including some family members of Guantanamo prisoners, marched to the Yemeni Parliament and the UNDP offices in the Yemeni capital to register their anger at the death of one of their compatriots and the continuing detention of many others. The demonstration was organised by HOOD (a leading human rights NGO in Yemen) and letters were handed in by several organisations and family members to the UNDP to be sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Manama, Bahrain: In a protest opposite the UN headquarters in Manama, protesters and the families of Bahraini and Saudi prisoners called for the prison camp to be shut down as a hundred orange balloons were released into the air. Thirty people attended this action.
Sydney, Australia: Roughly 250 people took part in a cold and damp protest outside Sydney
Town Hall calling for Guantanamo to close and David Hicks to be sent home. The action was supported by many human rights and anti-war organisations. Former Guantanamo prisoner Mamdouh Habib also addressed the crowd.
Demonstrations were also held in eight cities in the USA, Bosnia, and Kuwait.
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The National Coalition 
