A total of 81 protestors against the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were arrested inside and outside the Supreme Court on Friday, the sixth anniversary for the prison camp.
Around 200 demonstrators in prisoner-style orange jump suit marched from Congress to the nearby Supreme Court building, calling for the shutdown of the prison where U.S. military put terrorist suspects in detention.
"Shut down Guantanamo, counter terror with justice," they chanted.
Some demonstrators broke into the court, leading to a brief close of the building.
Police arrested some of the protestors on charge of violating an ordinance that prohibits demonstrations of any kind on court grounds. Those who were caught inside the court also carried charge under a provision that makes it a crime to give "a harangueor oration" in the Supreme Court building.
The Supreme Court is considering whether prisoners at Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts, instead of special military at the base where they have toface tribunals.
In addition, a petition signed by 1,100 parliamentarians from across the world, and 100,000 other signatures from U.S. citizens, was to be handed in to the White House.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, despite hundreds who have been released from Guantanamo to various countries, there are still 275 remaining in the prison.
The demonstration in Washington was also echoed by rallies from London to Sydney, where activists called for the camp to be shut, six years to the day since it received its first prisoners seized in the "war on terror."
Source: Xinhua
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