9 June 2008
Video 4 - Portland June 5-7, 2008
6 June 2008
Portland Lauch Re-cap
The cell tour opened in Portland on Thursday, June 5. We were very pleased with the turnout and the press coverage. We had about 100 people on hand for our initial program in Portland’s Monument Square, with local television stations, Maine Public Radio, the Portland Press Herald, and New England Cable News all on hand. We had a resolution from the Portland City Council welcoming us to the city. Congressman Tom Allen sent us a letter endorsing our project, which was read to the crowd. By the end of the day, over 300 people visited the cell, getting a vivid, first-hand sense of what it would be like to be “cooped up” in such a confined, claustrophobic environment. One enterprising journalist, Jeff Inglis, the editor of the Portland Phoenix, a popular weekly newspaper with sister papers in Boston and Providence, spent Wednesday night in the cell. We are looking forward to his article in next week’s paper.
On Thursday evening, well over a hundred people joined us for an informative panel and discussion at the Portland Public Library. Our theme was “Counter Terror with Justice.” Larry Cox spoke and we were joined by Pardiss Kebriaei of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Jamell Jeffer of the American Civil Liberities Union. The panel emphasized how the use of prolonged imprisonment without charges or trial and the mistreatment and torture of detainees in the “War on Terror” were underming the rule of law in the United States. We were privileged to have representatives of these two organizations with us. Both CCR and the ACLU have been in the forefront of efforts to use the courts to defend our Constitutional rights.
I also want to commend the work of so many of our local activists in Portland. Members of Group 705 in particular have been serving as volunteers at the cell and the nearby information table. Wearing jump suits, answering questions, directing people to literature and to the cell itself, they have been doing a great deal to broaden our presence in downtown Portland.
Finally, we owe a hearty thank you to our partner organizations - the Maine Civil Liberties Union, Pax Christi, Veterans for Peace, NAACP - Portland Branch, Peace Action - Maine, and the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church — for all their assistance.
Josh Rubenstein
Today was launch day for the Portland, Maine leg of the AIUSA National Cell Tour. After months of planning, building coalitions, & outreach for publicity purposes I would say we had a successful 1st day. As of 4:00PM we have had almost 300 individuals experience a small glimpse of the kind of living conditions that exists for hundreds of people at Guantanamo - Many of those who have approached the cell and have sought further information on AI’s Denounce Torture Campaign appear to be generally interested in learning more about this issue. I have heard many comments rooted in curiosity about why would the US -a country that prides itself on freedoms and civility would participate in such ruthless practices.
The high light of my day was when a group of 6 young Somali teenage girls , dressed in hajibs, came to visit the cell because they had heard about this exhibit and wanted to see for themselves what many of their “Muslim brothers” have and continue to experience.
As a long time staff person of AIUSA an experience like today is a true testimony to the importance of grassroots organizing. Without the leadership and support of our Local AI Maine Group 705 this would not have been possible.
Cynthia Gabriel
5 June 2008
Portland, Maine 1:18am
OK, I’m exhausted and delirious and it’s past midnight and it’s raining and we just finished unloading 1,650 lbs of Grade A Guantanamo cell replica on Portland’s Monument Square.
The delivery truck was a bit, ahem, late. But you know what’s amazing? There’s a guy spending the whole night alone in the cell. For real. Jeff Inglis, Managing Editor of The Portland Phoenix, donned an orange jumpsuit and will be reading “Poems From Guantanamo,” Amnesty case sheets on GTMO detainees and various and sundry other “GTLit” (you read it coined here first–GTMO Literature, a growth industry) all while listening to an iPod mix of songs (Neil Diamond, Rage Against the Machine, Christina Aguilera…) that real detainees have reportedly been subjected to for days, nonstop, as a form of sensory deprivation–known in my house as psychological torture. Did I mention Neil Diamond?
Look out for Jeff’s account of what it was like on www.thephoenix.com. For a real first hand account of indefinite detention and torture in Guantanamo and elsewhere check out former detainee Murat Kurnaz’s recent book, “Five Years of My Life.” Yeah, five. It’s incredibly powerful. I cried. Multiple times. But I was also inspired to keep up this work.
It can be draining, it can be frustrating, it can be lonely writing a lame blog post in the middle of the night that no one will read, while in an unfamiliar city, in a hotel room, one that smells like smoke because they ran out of non-smoking rooms but didn’t tell us until check-in that they were out of them–but it can also be exhilarating when people like Kurnaz are released, or when you meet other dedicated and talented people working for the same goals, like the AI volunteers in Portland I met tonight at the cell tour orientation, or when someone like Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledges that Guantanamo reflects badly on the US, or when–hopefully this month–the US Supreme Court restores habeas corpus in Boumediene v. Bush and Congress doesn’t mess it up by passing more bad legislation…OK, I’m dreaming but not getting any sleep–so goodnight. ZJ
4 June 2008
Welcome to Portland
My first view of Portland Maine came from the air–courtesy of a laaate flight from NYC–and the “maine” (sorry) thing I saw was lots of green. Orange should really stand out here. Right now we’re picking up the rental car and even though I’ve been in Maine about 15 minutes, I’m already plotting a move up here –people are so gosh darn nice. That plus the promise of great fish & chips plus a public library on the main square (our cell location) plus the already amazing work of local activists like Leo equals me being really excited about my new future hometown. Anyone have a room for rent? -ZJ
As Amnesty International members, we were elated at the opportunity to bring a replica of a Guantánamo cell and our call to action to Philadelphia. We have confidence in the power of our message of reliable evidence and a call for justice in the U.S. “war on terror.” Well, we’ve spent 3 days in Philadelphia and were overwhelmed by how welcoming the city has been.
Philadelphia has welcomed our message of justice with open arms and the experience of speaking with city residents who were concerned about human rights violations in the “War on Terror” sparked new excitement among our volunteers and staff. As expected, we also had the opportunity to talk with a number of people who had never heard of the detention center at Guantánamo.
It is a great responsibility to be the person bringing this knowledge to others and our teams of AIUSA volunteers and staff took this responsibility very seriously as they provided facts, figures, and a call to action. My faith in the power of justice was not misplaced as passerby after passerby walked straight to the action table after hearing about the human rights violations carried out by the U.S. government at Guantánamo.
Despite unexpected closures due to harsh weather conditions, over 700 people had the opportunity to view the inside of the cell in the city of brotherly love. For those who weren’t able to make it to Dilworth Plaza to see the cell in person, our street teams took the message to the people by handing out flyers and gathering petition signatures throughout the city. And, we welcomed a variety of local and national media outlets in Philadelphia which will help us extend the reach of the cell tour even farther.
With a successful weekend in Philly behind us, the cell has been packed up to hit the road for Portland, Maine. We’ll see you there!
- Cecili Thompson Williams
2 June 2008
From Amnesty International Belgium
30 May 2008
Philadelphia Cell Tour – Day 1
The City of Brotherly Love got its first exposure to the Guantánamo cell replica today – the cell traveled all around Philadelphia today with canvassers covering over 8 miles of Center City Philly, with stops at Dilworth Plaza - the main event site, LOVE park, the Ben Franklin Parkway, Independence Mall, Old City, South Street, and Rittenhouse Square, passing out almost 3,000 flyers about the event.
News of the event is spreading – even without flyering throughout the city, posters, radio promotion, and word of mouth have already started to spark interest – canvassers had many great conversations. Stay tuned for the weekend – Philly promises to be an exciting stop on the national tour.
-Jen Horwitz
Amnesty International launched the ‘Unsubscribe’ campaign in November 2007 with this truly powerful film entitled Waiting for the Guards. This film shows a performance artist undergoing, for real, interrogation techniques permitted in the CIA handbook.
26 May 2008
