Close Guantanamo Bay…and don’t just move them to the shiny new “detention centers” in Texas. All detainees should either be charged and tried in accordance with international fair trial standards or else released.

Today, Amnesty International activists around the country and the world mark the fifth anniversary of the first transfer of detainees to Guantánamo Bay by holding public actions demanding that the detention facility be closed.

Amnesty International was the first to call for the closure of the detention facilities at Guantánamo.

Five years ago the U.S. began detaining people at Guantánamo Bay without charges . . . without trial . . . without legal recourse . . . and without hope. The interrogation regime there led to many allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Five years later, despite widespread international condemnation, hundreds of people of more than 30 nationalities remain there.

Many like Murat Kurnaz, only 20 when detained, were released without charge after years of harsh and cruel detention. Some were as young as 13 when detained. The overwhelming majority have been held only on suspicion, guilty until proven innocent.

Every day that the Guantánamo Bay detention facilities remain open is another day when the United States of America broadcasts to the world its utter lack of respect for the most basic human rights principles.

Take action to protest the anti-American policies enacted under the name of the “war on terror”:

• Tell the President to shut down Guantánamo Bay.
• Attend a local vigil or rally.
• If you live in the DC area, attend the Amnesty International press conference and rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Sign “The America I Believe In” pledge and pass it on to your friends and family.

“Yes, they could be held there for the duration of their lives.” – Cully Stimson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs