Guantanamo Bay Prison Latest News: Protesters Tell Obama 'Keep Promise To Shut Down Gitmo'
Protesters gathered in front of the White House in Washington D.C. on Sunday to commemorate the 13th year of detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of about 127 people of various nationalities.
Witness Against Torture (W.A.T.), an American group advocating the release of detainees in the Cuban detention facility, led the demonstrations to remind U.S. President Barack Obama to fulfill his five-year promise to fully close Guantanamo Bay.
"We're here to remind the President Barack Obama and the people of the United States and all over the world that this is a crime... We need to continue to demand the closure of Guantanamo," W.A.T. member Christopher Knestrick said.
Bill Streit, another W.A.T. demonstrator who visited the Cuban detention facility in 2005, said he wanted to let the Guantanamo prisoners know that a lot of Americans support their release.
Streit is just one of the demonstrators, who wore bright orange prison uniforms with black hoods covering their faces when they laid down one carnation for each of the 127 Guantanamo prisoners at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Members of faith and human rights organizations and other activists, including poets, initiated the demonstrations by telling stories why Guantanamo Bay should be closed.
"We're not going away," Joan Stallard said, vowing to continue with their rallies until all inmates from Guantanamo Bay are released, according to Sputnik.
A total of 28 detainees have been released from Guantanamo Bay to countries including Afghanistan, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia and Kazakhstan, according to the Pentagon.
Some of the 127 inmates who remain at the Cuban prison have been cleared for release. Some of them have been held up in the facility since 2002.
In 2009, President Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay, describing the detention facility as a "sad chapter in American history." Despite the presidential order, the prison facility continues to operate.
Health workers, inspectors and former detainees have described the conditions at the camp as cruel and inhumane, alleging numerous acts of torture by prison guards.
