April, 22 2013, 03:26pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119; jvaron@aol.com
Matt Daloisio, 201-264-4424; daloisio@earthlink.net
Witness Against Torture: www.witnesstorture.org
Arrests at Federal Courthouse in NYC as Hunger Strike at Guantanamo Widens
Responding to reports that 84 men -- more than half of those imprisoned at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay -- are hunger striking to protest their indefinite detention, 12 concerned citizens with Witness Against Torture were arrested at approximately 3pm in a "die-in" on the steps of the Federal Courthouse at Manhattan's Foley Square (40 Centre Street).
NEW YORK
Responding to reports that 84 men -- more than half of those imprisoned at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay -- are hunger striking to protest their indefinite detention, 12 concerned citizens with Witness Against Torture were arrested at approximately 3pm in a "die-in" on the steps of the Federal Courthouse at Manhattan's Foley Square (40 Centre Street).
Those arrested, some in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, held signs with names of the men who have already died under US custody at the prison. Fearing that more prisoners could die soon, the protesters are demanding that immediate measures be taken by the Obama administration to close the prison.
The hunger strike, begun on February 6, has reached dire proportions. Following a raid by guards of one of the prison sections ("Camp 6") on April 13, inmates were newly thrown into solitary confinement and examined by medical staff. As a result, the number of those acknowledged as hunger striking by the US military has sharply climbed. Sixteen of the men are being force fed -- a painful practice condemned by human rights organizations and described in testimony from Samir Mukbei published in the New York Times on April 14. More than half of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo, including some of the hunger strikers, have been "cleared for release" by US authorities.
"The hunger strike," says Jeremy Varon, an organizer with Witness Against Torture, "is the predictable result of a failed policy of indefinite detention that is morally unacceptable and politically unsustainable. If action is not taken to change that policy, more prisoners will die and our nation's shame will deepen."
"I took part in the protest at the Federal Court," says North Carolina resident Beth Brockman, "because justice is broken when men who our government has no plans to charge or put on trial no harm are held for years."
"Shaker Aamer, the sole UK citizen still at Guantanamo," added protestor Brian Hynes, "recently pleaded, 'I hope I do not die in this awful place. I want to hug my children.' These words, from a man cleared for release 6 years ago, haunt me. The United States is slowly killing men in a prison that should never have existed. This nightmare must end."
Since the hunger strike began, Witness Against Torture has been holding vigils and rallies throughout the country, calling the White House and US military, and sending letters to the detained men. Following a 7 day fast in late March, it has organized a "rolling fast" that will continue as long as the hunger strike does, in which more than 100 people nationwide have participated.
Witness Against Torture is a grassroots movement that came into being in December 2005 when 24 activists walked to Guantanamo to visit the prisoners and condemn torture policies. Since then, it has engaged in public education, community outreach, and non-violent direct action. For the first 100 days of the Obama administration, the group held a daily vigil at the White House, encouraging the new President to uphold his commitments to shut down Guantanamo.
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As its share price plunged, Credit Suisse intensified concerns about its financial health—and broader alarm about the stability of global markets—by pleading with the Swiss National Bank and the regulator Finma to issue public statements of support for the lender, which controlled roughly $580 billion in assets at the end of last year.
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"Is this the next financial crisis unfolding? It feels like it may be—and all because of reckless increases in interest rates by central banks," Murphy added.
Experts and analysts have argued that—along with years of deregulation—the U.S. Federal Reserve's rapid interest rate hikes contributed to the fall of California-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which sold its bond portfolio at a major loss last week after it declined in value due to the Fed's actions.
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As The American Prospect's David Dayen put it Wednesday, "As long as interest rates keep rising, more banks will be exposed."
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Just a week ago, it appeared that Fed Chair Jerome Powell was bent on continuing to raise interest rates even amid mounting warnings about the potentially devastating impacts on millions of workers whose wages and jobs are on the line.
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Reutersreported Wednesday that "expectations for the U.S. central bank's next move have swung wildly in recent days, after the sudden failure of two regional banks late last week triggered alarm about the health of the banking system and raised doubts about how much further the Fed may take what has been an aggressive fight against stubbornly high inflation."
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"Credit Suisse is in principle a much bigger concern for the global economy than the regional U.S. banks which were in the firing line last week," Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist with Capital Economics, wrote in a research note on Wednesday. "Credit Suisse is not just a Swiss problem but a global one."
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"True leaders do not blink when faced with a global climate crisis."
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"The oligarchic establishment is trying to exploit my injuries in the most hideous, Goebbels-like manner."
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