Former Detainees and Detainee Families Will Address President Obama Directly

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To mark the beginning of the ninth year of detention without charge or trial at Guantanamo on Monday, January 11, activists and lawyers of detained men will rally, march and hold a briefing to outline current issues related to President Obama's Guantanamo. Formerly detained men and detainee families will address President Obama directly via a combination of video, audio, and written letters. Materials will be made available at the briefing.

Schedule, January 11, 2010

    When    What                                  Where
    ----    ----                                  -----
    11:45am Witness Against Torture Demonstration White House Plaza, between
            with street theater, signs, and       Lafayette Park and
            speakers, announcement of 12-day      "picture postcard" zone
            fast
    ------- -------------------------------------  ---------------------------
    12:30pm Begin prisoner procession, a silent
            walk of more than 40 in detainee
            jumpsuits
    ------- -----------------------------------    -------------------
    1:00pm  Center for Constitutional Rights       National Press Club
            Press Briefing: "Obama's Guantanamo"   529 14th Street,
                                                   Murrow Room
    ------  ------------------------------------   -------------------
    7:00pm  Panel: "Resisting Torture, Indefinite Georgetown University
            Detention and Abuse at Guantanamo     Law School,
            and Beyond: A Grassroots              McDonough - Room 207,
            Conversation"                         600 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) will hold a press briefing featuring detainee lawyers and human rights activists at 1:00 pm titled "Obama's Guantanamo" to address issues that include continued and worsening lack of transparency, resettlement for men who cannot return to their home countries, the threat of indefinite detention schemes in the U.S., the halt of transfers to Yemen and related responses to the recent terrorism attempt, and more.

Vincent Warren, CCR Executive Director, Pardiss Kebriaei, CCR attorney for detainees, Frida Berrigan of Witness Against Torture, and Stacy Sullivan, Counterterrorism Advisor at Human Rights Watch will speak about the current situation and the challenges and dangers ahead. Men who were formerly detained and family members of men who are currently detained will address President Obama via a combination of video, audio, and written letters.

Said CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren, "This is Obama's Guantanamo now. He has failed in his pledge to close the island prison from a lack of leadership, bowing to the pressures of partisan grandstanding, and vigorous attempts to keep all cases out of the courts. The transparency we were promised has been discarded. This is an anniversary that should not have come."

To learn more visit www.ccrjustice.org.

SOURCE Center for Constitutional Rights

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