Seeking to help people illegally held in prison, others are jailed

Earlier this year, on the sixth anniversary of the day that the first group of prisoners were incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay camp in 2002, a couple hundred protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC. Thirty-four of them then walked up the steps and engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience. They were arrested, and when that happened they did not provide the Capitol Police their "given" names but rather the names of individuals who have been held at Guantanamo for years and who have never received trial. They sought to be names and faces for the nameless and faceless.

This week, the group has been on trial in Washington for their actions. The Washington Post has offered good coverage of their appearance before the court, and yesterday's edition described their conviction in court. FOR member Frida Berrigan, a leader in Witness Against Torture, which organized the protest, said, "We're sad about the convictions, but we're happy, moved and humbled to bring the stories, names and identification of the men in Guantanamo into a court of law."

As is so often the case in trials of peace activists, the prosecutors steadfastly demanded that the judge (and/or jury) ignore the moral issues in the case and focus solely on their "criminal actions." This is a sad response, and was typified by the Post's reporting as follows:

Before [Judge] Gardner issued his ruling yesterday, one of the defendants stood and asked for a moment of silence for the detainees. Assistant U.S. Attorney Magdalena Acevedo quickly jumped to her feet to object. "Your honor, this is a court of law. And no matter what we may think of their personal beliefs, it does not justify them violating the law," Acevedo said.

Given the increasing amount of news that has been emerging in recent weeks about the role of our government in torture of prisoners around the world, we give thanks and praise to the courage of these nonviolent protesters. Today they are to be sentenced: keep them, and the prisoners whose cause for which they stand in solidarity, in your prayers.