Three activists dressed as detainees and one as a soldier. During the act the detainees shouted slogans such as "Americans have human rights, so do Afghanis". The soldier was responding by throwing them to the ground and kicking them. When asked to slightly move out of the way the soldier dragged the detainees which brought the whole street to a standstill.
The performance was very successful in attracting the interest and the comments of the public. The police turned up only to support our right to publicly perform. The performance moved across the centre of Cambridge, and finally joined the Think Twice conference.
References from Amnesty:
USA: AI calls on the USA to end legal limbo of Guantánamo prisoners
USA: Amnesty International requests access to Guantánamo base
At the same time as the performance Cambridge Woman in Black were holding a vigil on market square.
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Write to American Embassy
24.03.2002 18:29
Write to the American Ambassador to express concern regarding the treatment and conditions of detention of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners.
See below for suggested letter taken from Amnesty Internation Stamp Out Torture individual action.
His Excellency The Honourable Mr William Farish
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the United States of America
24 Grosvenor Square
London
W1A 1AE
Your Excellency,
Conditions of imprisonment of prisoners in area under US control
I am concerned about recent reports of detention and torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of non-US nationals by the USA in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In particular, I urge you to provide guarantees that:
1.No US Government agency will use torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, (including the use of sodium pentothal, sensory deprivation, the size of detainee’s cells, and the forcible shaving of detainee’s beards), to extract information or confessions from suspects or to intimidate or humiliate them;
2.All detainees will be given immediate access to legal representation and to be accorded full fair trial rights in line with US obligations under international standards, that no detainee will be brought before special military tribunals and that there will be no recourse to the death penalty;
3.If there is any dispute about the status of alleged Al-Queda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Camp X-Ray, the US will allow a “competent tribunal” to decide their status, as required by Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention.
I look forward to hearing from you with your comments on the above.
Eric