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Protests marking 5 years of Guantanamo across the country demanding its closure |
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 Campaigners, family members of Guantanamo detainees and ex-Guantanamo detainees all joined together across the country to protest at the continued inprisonment of around 400 detainees at Guantanamo.
In Birmingham, campaigners from the city and surrounding areas came together to protest outside Hiatts that supplies  chains used at Guantanamo. Hiatts were suppliers of chains and collars to the Slave trade. Seize the day led the protesters in singing Shackle-Shuffle. They ended singing " Happy Birthday " expressing the hope that Guantanamo does not make the sixth birthday. Click here for more details on Seize The Day
David Nicholls expressed the hope that members of Parliament would follow in the footsteps of William Wilberforce who two hundred years ago led a successful campaign banning slavery in Britain and stop the trade supplying instruments of torture. He termed William Wilberforce his kind of MP.
Abubaker Deghayes spoke about the plight of his brother still held at Guantanamo. Abubaker asked the British administration to do everything possible to bring Omar, his brother, back home to England.
Sandy Mitchell spoke about his experience in the Saudi prison where he was shackled using the shackles manufactured at Hiatts. He also said how he felt betrayed by his own government that failed to back him when he sued the Saudi regime for illegal imprisonment and torture.
Raghib Ahsan, a Respect candidate for the Birmingham Council spoke on behalf of the local residents calling for the closure of Guantanamo and an end to trade in instruments of torture including the chains used at Guantanamo.
Protesters tried to deliver a birthday cake to the factory but the management refused to open the office doors. In the end Sandy Mitchell returned his shackles through the letter box and the protesters retreated to a meeting point at a local university where they heard in detail from Abubaker Deghayes the plight of Guantanamo detainees and his brother. They discussed what can be done to force the British government to ensure the safe and immediate return of all the British residents detained at Guantanamo.
In Edinburgh, campaigners met at the scottish parliament to mark the fifth anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The meeting issued a statement committing to urgently press for the closure of the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and for other centers where people are detained without charge or trial as part of the "war on terror" Click here for the details of the meeting and the statement
In London, Amnesty international led over three hundred protesters in a mock demonstration of Guantanamo outside American embassy. The protesters demanded immediate closure of Guantanamo and the release of all its detainees.
More Pictures with some very good accompanying music
 In Cuba itself, protesters from across the world, including family members of some of the detainees marched to Guantanamo from the capital Havana and demanded the closure of the prison there and the release of all its detainees. Among the protesters were Cindy Sheehan, Tahir Deghayes, brother of Omar Deghayes and his mother. Also, among the protesters outside Guantanamo was Asif Iqbal, an ex-detainee at Guantanamo. Click Here For Pictures of protests across the world |
The National Coalition