February 11, 2009 3:36 PM
- Text
80 Arrested Outside Supreme Court
(CBS/AP)
Eighty people were arrested at the Supreme Court Friday in a protest calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Demonstrators wearing orange jump suits intended to simulate prison garb were arrested inside and outside the building. "Shut it down," protesters chanted as others kneeled on the plaza in front of the court.
They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those arrested inside the building also were charged under a provision that makes it a crime to give "a harangue or oration" in the Supreme Court building.
The maximum penalty is 60 days in jail, a fine or both.
The court is considering whether prisoners still detained at Guantanamo Bay have a right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.
Officials briefly closed the court building during the protest but later reopened it.
The demonstration came on a day of worldwide protests featuring orange-wearing activists, seeking an end to the arrest and detentions of people without trial or other legal resource.
Activists in Edinburgh, Scotland, clad in orange, knelt down outside the U.S. consulate. More marched in Belfast, Prague, Rome, Budapest, Luxembourg, Istanbul and Sydney.
In London, orange-glad "prisoners" were housed in mock jail cells erected outside the American Embassy, while men in camouflage walked large baying dogs among them.
In Brussels, Belgium, activists marched to the U.S. Embassy, chaining themselves together to represent the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. They were joined by Belgian politicians in their demands that the prison is illegal and should be closed.
As the protestors marched through the busy centre of Brussels, rush-hour traffic was brought to a standstill.
Francoise Dieryck, USA coordinator for Amnesty Belgium, said, "We want to give a message to the American authorities, first saying that it is really time to close Guantanamo now. Of course about 500 detainees have already been released, but there are about 275 that are there and they could be there indefinitely."
"America's image is really damaged, has been damaged, and so I think that closing Guantanamo Bay would be a very positive sign. But of course it is not enough. Why? Because there are secret detention centers ... everything is secret."
Demonstrators wearing orange jump suits intended to simulate prison garb were arrested inside and outside the building. "Shut it down," protesters chanted as others kneeled on the plaza in front of the court.
They were charged with violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those arrested inside the building also were charged under a provision that makes it a crime to give "a harangue or oration" in the Supreme Court building.
The maximum penalty is 60 days in jail, a fine or both.
The court is considering whether prisoners still detained at Guantanamo Bay have a right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts.
Officials briefly closed the court building during the protest but later reopened it.
The demonstration came on a day of worldwide protests featuring orange-wearing activists, seeking an end to the arrest and detentions of people without trial or other legal resource.
Activists in Edinburgh, Scotland, clad in orange, knelt down outside the U.S. consulate. More marched in Belfast, Prague, Rome, Budapest, Luxembourg, Istanbul and Sydney.
In London, orange-glad "prisoners" were housed in mock jail cells erected outside the American Embassy, while men in camouflage walked large baying dogs among them.
In Brussels, Belgium, activists marched to the U.S. Embassy, chaining themselves together to represent the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. They were joined by Belgian politicians in their demands that the prison is illegal and should be closed.
As the protestors marched through the busy centre of Brussels, rush-hour traffic was brought to a standstill.
Francoise Dieryck, USA coordinator for Amnesty Belgium, said, "We want to give a message to the American authorities, first saying that it is really time to close Guantanamo now. Of course about 500 detainees have already been released, but there are about 275 that are there and they could be there indefinitely."
"America's image is really damaged, has been damaged, and so I think that closing Guantanamo Bay would be a very positive sign. But of course it is not enough. Why? Because there are secret detention centers ... everything is secret."
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