We don't march much these days, but enough is quite enough and it's surely time to close Guantanamo, the constant reminder of too many American faults.
Aside from it's power as a recruiting tool for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups who love to point to the hypocrisy of America's praise of Justice and the Rule of Law; aside from the inhumanity of keeping in prison men already found innocent; aside from the repeatedly broken promises of President Obama...It's just not right.
Terry Rockefeller, at yesterday's march and rally in Washington, D.C., said it quite eloquently. She's a member of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and has been working on issues of the Rule of Law for years. She said, "...the Guantanamo Military Tribunals are a deeply
flawed legal system invented by the Bush Administration, which Congress and the
Obama Administration have tried unsuccessfully to rectify.
By decision of the Tribunal judge, all testimony
concerning torture of the defendants will be classified. Outrageous! It is well known that the
defendants were tortured...In a
ruling...made public last week the judge said lawyers in the 9/11 proceedings
cannot share even unclassified materials with the press or public.
We say enough! End the Military Tribunals and try the 9/11 suspects in
Federal Court."
January 12, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact
The full text of Rockefeller's speech:
Guantanamo after 11 Years
On September 11th
2001, my sister Laura was helping to run a seminar on information technology. When the first plane hit the North Tower
of the World Trade Center, Laura was on the 106th floor.
Today, more than
11 years after Laura’s murder, there is still no justice for 9/11 victims and
their families. The prison at
Guantanamo and all it represents has never furthered this goal. Instead,
torture, indefinite detention, and the failure to transfer inmates
approved for release have made Guantanamo a powerful symbol of lawlessness;
while the Military Tribunals in which the men accused of the 9/11 attacks are
currently being tried fall egregiously short of the fair, transparent, and
Constitutional trials that the United States should have conducted years
ago.
9/11 families, along with all US citizens, indeed the
entire world, have been betrayed!
Our organization,
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows was founded because we
believed that nonviolent responses to the 9/11 attacks were possible and would in the long run be
the most effective way to prevent future terrorist attacks.
Peaceful
Tomorrows’ members have consistently spoken out against wars that have produced
hundreds of thousands of deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq. And, as we opposed war, we demanded
efforts to bring those responsible for the 9/11 attacks to justice. We believe that the Rule of Law and respect for human rights are vital
to promoting nonviolence and ensuring security.
But the Guantanamo Military Tribunals are a deeply
flawed legal system invented by the Bush Administration, which Congress and the
Obama Administration have tried unsuccessfully to rectify.
By decision of the Tribunal judge, all testimony
concerning torture of the defendants will be classified. Outrageous! It is well known that the
defendants were tortured. U.S. leaders justified this as necessary to protect
us. To classify testimony about this torture denies all Americans the
opportunity to learn what was perpetrated in our names.
In a
ruling issued on December 20, but only made public last week the judge said lawyers in the 9/11 proceedings
cannot share even unclassified materials with the press or public.
We say enough! End the Military Tribunals and try the 9/11 suspects in
Federal Court.
President Obama you promised to do this four years ago. Now that you have been reelected, use
the power of your Presidency to finally do the right thing! For all around the boundaries of the
corrupt and malignant system that Guantanamo has become there is further decay
of the Rule of Law. Because we
have been unable to try and convict terrorists the Obama Administration has
shamelessly resorted to using drones to assassinate terrorism suspects.
This was NEVER,
NEVER something I wanted done in my sister’s name! We must none of us allow it
to continue in our names.
The America I
believe in will release the innocent Guantanamo detainees. It will hold those responsible
for torture accountable. It will
move the 9/11 trials into Federal courts.
The America I
believe in will CLOSE GUANTANAMO.